LANCASTER, Pa., May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Herley Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: HRLY) announced today that it has reached a court approved settlement with the U.S. Government on all existing criminal and civil claims. These claims include (a) the criminal indictment against the Company which had been scheduled for trial on May 5, 2008 with respect to a contract for the sale of voltage control oscillators in January 2001 and two contracts involving the sale of power heads to the U.S. Government in April 2002 and October 2002, respectively; (b) the civil action by the U.S. Government against the Company based on alleged excessive profits on these three contracts; and ( c ) any future U.S. Government action against the Company arising from activities resulting in its two prior suspensions from receiving new contract awards from the U.S. Government, including its June 2007 suspension related to the Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missile project (CALCM). The Company also announced that a settlement has been reached with the U.S. Government and its former Chairman, Lee N. Blatt.
The settlement agreement with the Company is as follows: (a) with respect to the indictment, the Company has pleaded guilty to two counts of obstructing an audit relating solely to the power heads, a fine of $3.5 million, and the remaining 31 counts of the indictment have been dismissed; (b) the Department of Justice has released the Company of any civil liability for the matters set forth in the indictment in exchange for the payment of $6 million; and ( c ) with respect to the facts and circumstances resulting in the Company's two prior suspensions, the U. S. Government considers the matters closed.
With respect to Mr. Blatt, the Court, at the Government's request, dismissed all of the charges against him in the indictment and the Government filed a Superseding Information charging Mr. Blatt with a misdemeanor violation of the tax code in a single count, and Mr. Blatt has entered a guilty plea for failing to keep Company records of the allocation of an $18,000 corporate research expense. Mr. Blatt has been fined $25,000, has received a term of probation of one year and is required to perform some community service.
The Company is presently a party to an administrative agreement dated October 12, 2006, as amended on August 14, 2007, ("the Agreement") with the Department of the Navy, Acquisition Integrity Office. Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Agreement, the Navy, on behalf of the Department of Defense, agreed to terminate Herley's suspension and not to debar Herley based upon the facts and causes leading to the suspension. The Company has advised the Navy about the terms and conditions of the Court approved settlement for the criminal and civil matters mentioned above, and the Navy, through the Acquisition Integrity Office, has advised Herley that no action will be taken to suspend or debar Herley based on this settlement.
Commenting on this settlement, Myron Levy, Chairman and CEO of the Company stated, "We believe this settlement to be in our best interests. It is anticipated that the trial of the criminal matter would have been between two to three months and the trial of the Justice Department's civil action would have been a similar time period. The legal fees, for both trials, have been estimated to be in excess of the settlement amount. The U.S. Government's actions also have been a time-consuming, substantial distraction to management. We are optimistic that with these proceedings finally resolved, we can now look forward to resuming our previously successful performance record without the challenging impediments resulting from the U.S. Government's actions."
Herley Industries, Inc. is a leader in the design, development and
manufacture of microwave technology solutions for the defense, aerospace
and medical industries worldwide. Based in Lancaster, PA, Herley has eight
manufacturing locations and approximately 965 employees. Additional
information about the company can be found on the Internet at
http://www.herley.com
For information at Herley contact:
Peg Guzzetti Tel: (717) 735-8117
Investor Relations http://www.herley.com
Safe Harbor Statement -- Except for the historical information contained herein, this release may contain forward-looking statements. Such statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties. When used in this report, words such as "anticipated," "believes," "could," "estimates," "expects," "may," "plans," "potential" and "intends" and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the belief of the Company's management, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company's management. The Company's results could differ materially based on various factors, including, but not limited to, cancellation or deferral of customer orders, difficulties in the timely development of new products, difficulties in manufacturing, increased competitive pressures, the effects of the indictment of the Company and general economic conditions. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements as a result of future events or developments.
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