NJ Man Charged In $7M U.S. Defense Department Fraud Scheme

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — A Turkish man and the owner of a New Jersey defense contracting business has been charged in a scheme to fraudulently acquire manufacturing contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced Thursday.

Ferdi Murat Gul, aka "Fred Gul," 42, was indicted by a federal grand jury on six counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He is the principal owner, CEO, and general manager of two Paterson companies and one manufacturing company in Turkey.

Over the course of five years, Bright Machinery Manufacturing Group Inc. of Paterson fraudulently obtained hundreds of contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense by falsely claiming that the military parts it contracted would be made in the United States. From 2010 to 2015, those 346 contracts were valued at $7 million.

Instead, Gul allegedly submitted quotes to support those claims, Carpenito said. However, the parts, including U.S. Navy torpedoes, were allegedly made secretly in Turkey and then supplied them to U.S.-based Department of Defense customers.

"Testing by the Department of Defense revealed that some parts had numerous design flaws and non-conformities and were unusable," Carpentio said.

Gul is believed to be at large in Turkey, Carpenito said. He was also charged with violating the Arms Export Control Act and conspiracy to violate the act. The act prohibits the export of defense articles and services without first obtaining a license from the U.S. Department of State.

He faces a maximum potential penalty of 160 years in prison and a $3.5 million fine if found guilty of all the charges filed against him.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

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