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February 24, 2006

R.I. co-founder of Custer Battles expected to testify today

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Michael Battles, the co-founder of war contractor Custer Battles, was expected to testify today in the federal whistleblower lawsuit brought against the Middletown, R.I. -based firm.

Two former business associates charged in a civil lawsuit that officials of the firm filed false claims for some of the millions of dollars they made from the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, which ran the first efforts to secure and rebuild Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Company cofounders Scott Custer, 37, of Virginia, and Battles, 35, a former Rhode Islander who made an unsuccessful bid for Congress, have denied the accusations, as has their former employee and codefendant, Joseph Morris, 43, of Connecticut.

-- With Associated Press and Journal reports

Posted by Jack Perry  at 11:30 AM | Permalink