On December 22, 2009 Kuchera Defense Systems (KDS) was suspended from participating in or being awarded any new government contract. KDS, a firm located in Rep Murtha’s district, relies heavily on earmarks from Rep. Murtha. POLITICO reports that “Murtha has steered more than $50 million in earmarks to several Kuchera-owned companies. Employees at those companies have donated about $65,000 to Murtha’s campaigns, and the brothers hosted a fundraiser for Murtha at their Pennsylvania ranch.”
KDS was originally suspended for overcharging the Navy, but those problems were later resolved. This new charge revolves around alleged kickbacks KDS gave to a co-founder of Coherent Systems International (CSI) in order to win sub-contract work on a CSI earmark. ABC News reports that CSI was given the earmark after hiring a lobbying firm that employed Rep. Murtha’s brother. Rep. Murtha has denied awarding the earmark.
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