A shipbuilder who federal prosecutors say committed fraud at an Alabama shipyard from 2013 to 2016 has been suspended from his current job in Wisconsin, USNI News has learned.
Craig Perciavalle, who was the former president of Austal USA in Mobile, was suspended without pay from his current role as the general manager of Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, part of Fincantieri Marine Group’s holdings in Wisconsin, according to a Wednesday statement from the company.
“We are aware of the criminal indictment and civil complaint filed against Craig [Perciavalle] related to his previous employment before coming to FBS,” Marco Galbiati, CEO of Fincantieri Marine Group said in a statement.
“We have chosen to suspend him from his current duties until these matters are resolved.”
Jan Allman, Fincantieri Marine Group’s senior vice president for public affairs, will serve as an interim general manager.
Perciavalle, William Adams, 63, who was director of Austal USA’s LCS and the Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF) programs; and Joseph Runkel, 54, who formerly Austal USA’s director of financial analysis, were incited on felony fraud charges that they had manipulated cost and earnings reports to hide the true costs of building the Littoral Combat Ships for the service, federal officials said on Friday.
Each is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud affecting a financial institution; five counts of wire fraud; and two counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution. Each count carries a 20 to 30-year imprisonment and fines of $500,000 to $1 million, and each defendant faces forfeiture of property if they are convicted on any count.
The trio also face a civil action filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
