AEPTEC Micro to settle Navy false claims suit

AEPTEC Microsystems has agreed to pay the government $1.6 million to settle claims that the company overcharged the Navy on four contracts for shipboard automation technology.

The agreement resolves charges that AEPTEC, which does business as 3e Technologies, submitted false claims for work performed by shifting labor hours from fixed-fee contracts for commercial services to Navy cost-plus contracts, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland said.

Three of the contracts were for the installation of shipboard wireless sensors to collect data about wear and tear on equipment aboard ships. A fourth contact was for developing a wireless system to monitor shipboard food inventories.

U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said that as part of the settlement, 3e Technologies did not admit it violated the False Claims Act, and the government did not concede its claims were well-founded.