3 face federal fraud charges in bid to maintain Marine One

Three men face federal charges of fraud related to a contract negotiation for maintenance on the helicopters that transport the president.

U.S. Attorney Thomas G. Walker announced the charges Thursday against Craig Kolhagen, Dennis Pennington and James Bowling. Each man faces five counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, major fraud against the government and procurement fraud.

The indictment alleges that Kolhagen, who represented Marine Helicopter Squadron One, which provides transportation to the president, leaked confidential information to Pennington and Bowling that they were able to use in bidding for the maintenance contract.

Pennington and Bowling used the information to craft a bid on behalf of Valour, LLC, that gave it an unfair disadvantage in the contract process. They also artificially padded their cost estimate for the maintenance, according to the indictment.

Pennington is CEO and Bowling is president of Valour, a Louisiana-based defense contractor. Both men are retired non-commissioned officers in the Marine Corps who served at helicopter mechanics during their military careers.