U.S. sues Lockheed, others for alleged kickbacks and lying on cleanup of nuclear site

FILE PHOTO - Trade visitors are seen walking over a road crossing covered with Lockheed Martin branding at Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, Britain, July 17, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has sued Lockheed Martin Corporation, Lockheed Martin Services Inc and Mission Support Alliance LLC, as well as a Lockheed executive for alleged false claims and kickbacks on a multibillion-dollar contract to clean up a nuclear site, the Justice Department said on Friday.

The complaint alleges that paid more than $1 million to Mission Support Alliance executives in order to win a $232 million subcontract to provide management and technology support at the Hanford, Washington site from 2010 through the middle of 2016. It also says that the defendants lied about the amount of profit included in Lockheed's billing rates.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert, editing by G Crosse)