Whistleblower to get $1 million in settlement

A Winder man credited with blowing the whistle on a Department of Defense contractor will collect an amount equal to roughly one-fourth of the company’s $4 million settlement with the government, according to the man’s attorney.

Buster Roderigas will collect $720,000 of the settlement with L-3 Vertex Aerospace, the whistleblower’s Atlanta attorney, Lee Wallace, said late Wednesday. Separately, L-3 must pay Roderigas $318,000 in legal fees.

Roderigas tipped off the government about alleged wrongdoing by L-3, a Madison, Wis.-based firm that has an ongoing contract with the U.S. Army to provide helicopter maintenance at Camp Taji, Iraq.

Under a settlement announced this week by the Department of Justice, L-3 will pay the Army $4 million to resolve allegations that false and inflated time claims were submitted for hours worked by company employees between March 2004 and August 2005.

“With the economic problems we have now, whistleblower suits are critically important,” Wallace said. “The U.S. simply can’t afford to lose taxpayer money for fraud.”

Roderigas is in Afghanistan and could not be reached for comment.