WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- U.S. authorities are investigating three senior civilian Navy officials who were allegedly part of a contracting scheme, court records indicate.
The three civilians, who are responsible for highly classified programs and have not been charged with any crimes, allegedly asked a mechanic in California to make homemade firearm silencers.
The military was then charged $1.6 million for the materials, The Washington Post reported, but they only cost $8,000 to make.
Although the intended purpose of the silencers is unknown, one of the three officials told a witness that the silencers were meant for the SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden, the Post reported.
The three Navy officials names are redacted in most of the court documents, but in one affidavit, federal officials did not black out the name of official Lee Hall, a longtime defense intelligence official, the newspaper said.
An attorney for Hall did not comment on the investigation, the Post reported.
Those close to the case have identified the second man as David W. Landersman, the senior director for intelligence in the Navy's department for plans, policy, oversight and integration intelligence, the Post said.
The auto mechanic, Mark Landersman--David's brother--was arrested Oct. 29 and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to transport unregistered firearms.
The investigation comes as the Navy probes another fraud scandal involving Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a Singapore defense contractor, the Post said.
There is no known connection between the two cases.
