HERNANDO BEACH, Fla., March 15 (UPI) -- A Florida man is under investigation in a scheme to defraud the U.S. military of $54 million, court documents indicated.
The documents allege David Young, 49, a former U.S. Army Reserve lieutenant colonel living in Hernando Beach, Fla., used his position for years to funnel military contracts to his friends then helped formulate ways to charge the Pentagon millions of dollars for work never done, the (St. Petersburg) Tampa Bay Times reported Thursday.
Federal agents raided Young's home in September, but the documents were made public only recently.
While Young has not been charged, U.S. attorneys sued him and others to seize 20 properties and more than $15 million they say arose from the fraud.
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Documents filed by federal prosecutors in the U.S. District Court of Utah outlined the government's investigation, saying Young helped design the initial contract, arranged for one company to win the bid and recruited colleagues to conceal the scam.
Young's lawyers tried to keep the record sealed, but a judge recently made it public.
Brett Tolman, Young's Utah-based attorney, said the court documents had many inaccuracies and denied the accusations against his client, the Times said.
"He couldn't have orchestrated what they're alleging," Tolman said. "If there's fraud, it's fraud we're not part of."
Young moved to Hernando in early 2010. Before coming to Florida, he spent 30 years in the political and legal arenas in New England.
After receiving reprimands while a lawyer in New Hampshire, Young was disbarred in 2006 for misusing a client's money, the Times said. In 2008, he was convicted in a military court-martial of taking two Navy Humvees in Afghanistan.
In Hernando, Young operated three businesses authorities allege were used primarily to launder money, the Times reported.
