Misconduct Shocks the Defense Industry

In 2003 misconduct of conflict-of-interest laws shocked the defense industry. Serious violations were committed at The Boeing Company by former top Air Force procurement official Darleen Druyun who admitted to helping The Boeing Company obtain a $23 billion tanker refueling contract in exchange for an executive job at the company. While verbally accepting a position with Lockheed Darlene Druyun did not disclose her job negotiations with a Mike Sears a Chief Financial officer while overseeing aerial tanker negotiations between Boeing and the U.S. Air force. This non-commitment to ethical behavior and compliance gave Boeing a competitive advantage while bidding on the contract.

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At that time, Lockheed Martin was building the C-130 while BAE Systems was working on an AMP-like program for KC-135s. In addition to working on the tanker negotiations with the Air Force, Druyun also chaired the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Program Management Board of Directors, which managed the NATO E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) program. Darleen Druyun was involved in the decision-making process that terminated changes made to evaluation factors - including deletion of specific technical requirements. U.S. Attorneys presented compelling evidence that the two were collaborating to make sure their activities were kept a secret. Boeing investigated Druyun’s employment and when her name kept surfacing Boeing wanted to make sure the company’s hiring policies and procedures were followed. During the course of the investigation, the company discovered that both Sears and Druyun had been using Druyun daughter who was a Boeing employee in the Integrated Defense Systems department for several years. She was used as a mediator to relay messages. Boeing fired both Druyun and Sears the executive who hired her, last year after the company learned of their negotiations over Druyun’s job. The U.S. Justice Department reported that Prisoner 47614, Druyun plead guilty to one count of conspiracy, served nine months in prison in Marianna, Florida, seven months community confinement, and a $5,000