Unisys Corp. Pleads Guilty To Fraud

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Unisys Corp. pleaded guilty today to criminal charges in the massive Pentagon procurement scandal and agreed to pay the United States up to $190 million to settle claims arising from the Operation Ill Wind investigation.

"This $190 million settlement, the largest ever of its type, should carry a simple but necessary message: Where individuals or corporations systematically defraud a procurement program, we'll use the full extent of the law to punish them," said Acting Attorney General William Barr. "The integrity of these programs demands it and the taxpayers deserve no less."

Unisys Chairman James Unruh said in a statement his company "must accept responsibility for the past action of a few people" associated with Sperry Corp., which was taken over by Burroughs Corp. in 1986 to form Unisys.

"All of us at Unisys have been angered and frustrated that the actions of a few have cast a cloud over a dedicated, ethical work force," Unruh said. "This unfortunate chapter is behind us."

Unisys attorney Charles Ruff entered the guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton in the Washington suburb of Alexandria.

Unisys pleaded guilty to eight counts, including conspiring to defraud the United States, bribery, conversion of government property and filing false statements.

It pleaded guilty to bribing former Assistant Secretary of the Navy Melvyn Paisley, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Victor Cohen and another Navy official, all of whom were previously convicted on related charges.

Barr said Unisys is the sixth corporation to plead guilty to charges stemming from the four-year-old Operation Ill Wind investigation, with total settlements in fines and penalties reaching $225 million.