Former Huntsville CEO charged with schemes to Defraud U.S. Department of Defense

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - A former Chief Executive Officer was charged in connection to schemes to defraud the United States Government in relation to conflict in Afghanistan.

According to officials at the U.S. Department of Justice, 40-year-old Paul Daigle was charged with conspiracy, four counts of wire fraud and four counts of false claims in indictment.

According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Daigle was the CEO of a company based out of Huntsville. The company served as a subcontractor on U.S. Department of Defense aviation contracts related to the war in Afghanistan.

The Huntsville business has not been released at the time.

We’re told that Daigle allegedly engaged in two fraudulent schemes that resulted in the submission of false claims to the U.S. Government.

The first scheme involved the use of unqualified employees for government contracts. Daigle allegedly mapped employees to labor categories on government contracts for which the employees did not meet minimum qualifications, resulting in the government overpaying for unqualified labor.

The statement reports that Daigle directed employees to obtain false educational credentials and “fake degrees” from diploma mills on the internet. The second scheme involved alleged false billing, in which the government was charged for work unrelated to a government contract.

This investigation is being conducted by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division.

There are no further details at this time.