Posted on 06/04/2009 2:28:32 PM PDT by Sathya
Defense firm got money from drug dealer Thursday, June 04, 2009 By Dennis B. Roddy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A Johnstown-area defense firm under investigation for possible contract fraud received an infusion of cash during its start-up years from a narcotics trafficker with whom one of the company's founders admitted engaging in the drug trade.
At the time, Kuchera Industries was a startup company that assembled electronics components and sought federal contracts -- contracts that would ultimately make the company and its sister firm, Kuchera Defense Systems, multimillion-dollar businesses.
Peter Whorley, a Florida man and business associate of William Kuchera, one of the top officers at the companies, put up $50,000 to help Kuchera Industries find its feet, according to court records. Kept on the Kuchera books as a consultant receiving "special commissions," Mr. Whorley later helped the company in its unsuccessful efforts to land a contract with the United States Census Bureau in the mid-1980s.
Mr. Whorley's $50,000 line of funding, and whether it amounted to a loan or a share of the company, became the subject of a bitter legal battle between the two former partners who, according to a deposition by William Kuchera, were once associates in the narcotics trade.
The role of Mr. Whorley, as well as Mr. Kuchera's past as a marijuana dealer, surfaced amid a federal investigation of the Kuchera companies.
"Felony drug convictions are usually enough to disqualify a person for a security clearance, because they go to character," Mr. Thompson said.
Both Mr. Kuchera's attorney and Mr. Whorley, speaking through his lawyer, declined to comment on the matter.
Read more: "Defense firm got money from drug dealer" - http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09155/975117-100.stm#ixzz0HUufeREm&A
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Despite lots of competition, Murtha is the biggest scumbag in Congress.
Such dirty business.
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