Posted: Mon, May 5, 2003, 8:30 AM ET (1230 GMT)
The federal government is investigating whether The Boeing Company improperly used confidential Lockheed Martin documents to help it win critical launch vehicle and military satellite contracts, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The Justice Department, along with military investigators, are looking into how Boeing came into possession of the proprietary documents regarding the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The WSJ report indicates that a former Lockheed employee, hired by McDonnell Douglas in early 1997, as the company was being acquired by Boeing, may have supplied the documents. Investigators have also found Lockheed Martin documents dealing with the competition for the Future Imagery Architecture contract, a spy satellite award that Boeing unexpectedly won in 1999. The investigation has been ongoing since September 2002, although Boeing has yet to report it in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), although the Journal reports that Boeing may file a report about the investigation as early as Monday.

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•  Reuters article