SAN DIEGO, July 7, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:KTOS), a leading national security, information technology and public safety solutions provider, today provided the following comments on the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California's announcement that a senior Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR) official and others, including a former Kratos employee, were formally charged with a variety of federal offenses.
The United States Attorney has advised Kratos that it is not and has never been a target of the investigation. From the start, Kratos provided the U.S. Attorney's Office with total assistance in investigating the matter, as well as implementing internal steps to ensure that the matter was isolated. That willing assistance was in keeping with the Company's commitment to the absolute highest standards in ethical behavior and compliance with the law. Kratos has worked closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense Inspector General's Office and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) to assist them in their investigation of this matter.
As the indictment returned by the Grand Jury states, the former Kratos employee, Jack Godwin, deliberately concealed his alleged illegal activities from Kratos and others in the Company, who had no knowledge of them. More than a year ago, Government investigators first informed Kratos of its investigation. At that time, Kratos terminated Mr. Godwin's employment, offered the Company's assistance to the government, and began a review of those transactions involving Mr. Godwin. Since that time, Kratos has shared information with investigators.
In the course of its cooperation with the U.S. Attorney's Office and other federal investigators, Kratos has provided hundreds of thousands of pages of documents and senior management has been fully available and accessible to the investigators. It has been determined that other than the employee who Mr. Godwin improperly hired for a few weeks in early 2008 -- Sinthia Nares, who is also charged in the indictment -- no other current or past Kratos employee is implicated in the alleged scheme. Kratos respects and appreciates the work of the U.S. Attorney's Office and other federal investigators in taking swift action in this matter.
Eric DeMarco, President and Chief Executive Officer of Kratos, said, "We have worked long and hard to establish the trust and respect of our customers, and are deeply disappointed that the alleged actions of an apparent renegade employee may have undermined the extraordinary and dedicated efforts of so many other of our employees. Our commitment to the highest ethical standards in growing our business is absolute, and immediately upon learning of Mr.
