Man admits to falsifying test reports

FLORENCE - A Huntsville machine shop operator admitted in federal court Tuesday that he falsified material testing reports at the request of a defense contractor accused of illegally exporting sensitive military technology.

Kary Warren, owner of Industrial Fabrications, testified for the prosecution in the trial of Alexander Nooredin Latifi, 60, owner of Huntsville-based Axion Corp. The non-jury trial, which began Monday, is expected to last much of this week. Latifi is also accused of fraud and submitting false documents to the government

Warren testified he was reluctant to submit a report claiming he had tested a bearing assembly that would be used in a tank retrieval vehicle shock absorber system Latifi's company was producing for the military. The testing included heating the bearing assembly to 400 degrees and then cooling it to 65 degrees below zero repeatedly.

"I told him I didn't want to do it," Warren said during questioning by assistant U.S. Attorney David Estes. "He told me the paperwork was not going to go to the government. He told me it would not leave his shop. He told me he needed a favor because he was in a bind. He had done a lot of favors for me, so I did it."

Warren testified Latifi had loaned him money and provided payment in advance for work being done by Industrial Fabrications.

Warren testified he did not know Latifi would submit the false test results to federal officials as part of a contract Axion had received to build shock absorbers for the military. "I did not know it was going to be used for

certification."

Latifi and Axion were indicted by a federal grand jury in March of knowingly submitting a false document to the government in connection with a military contract, specifically First Article Test Reports which falsely stated that Industrial Fabrications had conducted testing which the defendant knew were false.

Warren testified that he eventually conducted the tests that Latifi had included in the report, but admitted the machines he used had not been calibrated and certified to be accurate when the testing occurred. He pleaded guilty in 2006 to making false certification claims to the government.

During cross-examination by defense attorney Henry Frohsin, of Birmingham, Warren said Latifi did not know the testing machinery at Industrial Fabrication was not certified as being accurate.

"It was never mentioned one way or the other about the machines not being calibrated," he said.

He also testified during questioning by Frohsin that Latifi was a perfectionist who went above and beyond what the government required for the products Axion produced.

In addition to questioning by attorneys, Warren also answered questions from U.S. District Judge Inge Johnson who is presiding in the trial.

The indictment alleges that Axion and Latifi knowingly and willfully exported technical drawings of a part used on UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters to overseas purchasers without first obtaining a required license and authorization from the State Department.

Axion and Latifi are also accused of making a fraudulent representation to the U.S. Army concerning parts used in a military aircraft by claiming they were manufactured by a company other than the one that actually made the parts.

The investigation into the charges was conducted by several federal agencies including NASA, Office of the Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI and the Internal Revenue

Service.

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@timesdaily.com.