Court says case flawed, Alf resumes control of National Air Cargo

US DISTRICT Court Judge Ricardo Urbina has issued an injunction that ends the debarment of National Air Cargo owner Christopher Alf and his wife Lori from running the company he founded after he pleaded guilty last year to feloniously over billing the US Defence Department.

The disbarment, the result of a plea bargain in which Mr Alf paid a US$28 million fine, and was barred from the management of the Orchard Park, New York, company whose business has been mostly providing air freight to the US Air Force.

"It appears that the decision to debar the plaintiff... was logically flawed," said the judgment. In response, debarring official Steven Shaw "immediately and permanently terminated the debarment', said a press statement issued by Mr Alf.

Mr Alf has resumed control of National Air Cargo (NAC) as chairman and Mrs Alf will join the board, the statement said.

Mr Alf said he has spent nearly $10 million clearing his name, bringing suit against the USAF claiming that his debarment violated the Administrative Procedures Act. He successfully filed a motion for a preliminary injunction enjoining his debarment.

Said Mr Alf: "We are relieved that after fighting for this long that the judge found this case fundamentally flawed and lacking legal merit. It was worth fighting for our innocence."

Under federal contracting law, debarment bans affected contractors from bidding on or entering into deals with the federal government. Rules also ban other federal contractors from doing business with debarred businesses.

In the plea bargain, the National Air Cargo continued its relationship with the US military while paying the $28 million fine and pleading guilty to a corporate felony for over billing the military. Mr and Mrs Alf and three other employees were debarred.
 

Source: SchedNet