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Throw the bastard to the troops
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:38 pm
by Fairportfan
Some things ... well ... there isn't any penalty that really properly suits the crime.
Man Sold US Knock-Off Batteries for Carriers, Subs
The Ventura County Star wrote:
A former Simi Valley man has been convicted of defrauding the U.S. government by selling more than $2.6 million in knock-off batteries to the Department of Defense.
Didier De Nier, 63, was found guilty Wednesday of five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. De Nier lived in Simi Valley until he left the U.S. about two years ago to live aboard his yacht near the Caribbean island of St. Martin.
He is the former CEO of Powerline, which was based in Simi Valley and sold more than 80,000 batteries and battery assemblies to the Navy for emergency power on aircraft carriers, minesweepers and ballistic submarines. The company also did business as Birdman Distribution Corp.
De Nier and his employees attached counterfeit labels to the knock-off batteries, so they appeared to come from approved manufacturers, according to evidence presented at the trial. They also used chemicals to remove "Made in China" markings from the batteries.
De Nier is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 18. He faces a maximum sentence of 110 years in federal prison.
His former wife, Lisa De Nier, who served as the company's vice president of sales, previously pleaded guilty in the case to conspiracy to defraud the government. She is expected to be sentenced later this year and faces up to 10 years in prison.
Thirty-odd years ago, we had a case in the Atlanta area in which a couple of sleazebags were caught selling cheap steel with falsified documentation as high-tensile steel ... to be used in submarine pressure hulls.
I was all for saving the cost of imprisoning them by introducing them to large groups of Navy veterans, especially submariners.
Re: Throw the bastard to the troops
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:56 pm
by jwhouk
Well, technically we're in a state of war, so I'd say put him on the front lines in Afghanistan.
Re: Throw the bastard to the troops
Posted: Tue Apr 22, 2014 11:53 pm
by Mark N
jwhouk wrote:Well, technically we're in a state of war, so I'd say put him on the front lines in Afghanistan.
Under the "state of war" label he can be tried for treason and the firing squad that it used to have behind it.
Re: Throw the bastard to the troops
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:11 am
by Fairportfan
Except that we're not - "state of war" requires a formal declaration.
Re: Throw the bastard to the troops
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 12:54 am
by Mark N
Fairportfan wrote:Except that we're not - "state of war" requires a formal declaration.
I know but it was the idea behind the referenced quote. It is just that it would be ideal solution and a nice way to help dissuade other scumbags from doing the same. (It would also cost we the tax payers far less to bury them then to house them for a lifetime)
Re: Throw the bastard to the troops
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:11 am
by Fairportfan
Mark N wrote:Fairportfan wrote:Except that we're not - "state of war" requires a formal declaration.
I know but it was the idea behind the referenced quote. It is just that it would be ideal solution and a nice way to help dissuade other scumbags from doing the same. (It would also cost we the tax payers far less to bury them then to house them for a lifetime)
Tattoo "Sold the Navy substandard materiel" on them front and back and then set them loose in the precise geographical center of the Norfolk yard at noon on a Monday.
Re: Throw the bastard to the troops
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 1:18 am
by Dave
Fairportfan wrote:Except that we're not - "state of war" requires a formal declaration.
Correct. Congress has authorized certain ongoing military activities under the terms of the War Power Act, but has not (at present) formally declared war on anyone.
Ain't terminology grand!
Re: Throw the bastard to the troops
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:26 am
by Jabberwonky
Bolt a chair with 'seat belts' to the the superstructure of a sub and let him visually check the running lights using his emergency batteries...
Re: Throw the bastard to the troops
Posted: Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:02 am
by Catawampus
Yeah, there are always plenty of lovely folks who do such things, such as the guy who made millions of pounds by selling fake bomb detectors to countries such as Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan.
I've often thought that it would make the designers and sellers of these sorts of safety items much more reliable if they were required to personally demonstrate the effectiveness of a random sampling of their product in the field.