2012 FIN – Counterfeit Fastener Case Part of ‘Growing’ Military Supply Fraud

November 18

00:00 2014

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2014 FIN Geyer Commits Suicide to Avoid Prison

June 2014 FIN – Martin Geyer died from a self-inflicted gunshot to the head following a standoff with a Georgia sheriff’s office and U.S. marshals, the Effingham Herald reported.
The former bodybuilder who supplied defective self-locking nuts to the U.S. military had been sentenced to three years in prison.
Geyer, 54, had pleaded guilty in 2013 to “one count of mail fraud for shipping the parts to the military, one count of possessing a firearm while using a controlled substance, and one count of possessing anabolic steroids.”
“He had made comments to some other people that he was not going back to prison and that he had a firearm,” county sheriff spokesperson David Ehsanipoor told Effingham Herald reporter Paul Floeckher. “We knew we were probably dealing with somebody who felt like he had nothing to lose which obviously pose a threat to not just us but anyone else around him.”
With deputies and marshals surrounding his house, Geyer refused requests to walk outside his home. Deputies then heard a single gunshot from inside the house.
“Just because you hear a gunshot, you don’t know whether he killed himself or whether he’s shooting at somebody,” Ehsanipoor explained.
Upon entering the house, deputies found Geyer dead in an upstairs room. An autopsy confirmed he died from a single, self-inflicted gunshot to the head.
“He said he wasn’t going back to prison sand obviously he meant it,” Ehsanipoor told the Effingham Herald. @2014 Fastener Industry News.
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December 18, 2012 FIN – MEDIA SPOTLIGHT – A former Columbus, OH, man is charged with selling the U.S. military thousands of counterfeit nuts, bolts and screws in one of several military-parts cases before the U.S. District Court in Columbus, the Columbus Dispatch reports.
Martin Dale Geyer, owner of Georgia-based Wellworth Fastener Products, awaits arraignment after being indicted by a federal grand jury in late November on seven charges of fraud and false claims, the Dispatch reports.
“The problem is persistent and ongoing,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Michael Marous, who is prosecuting Geyer. “We have had a continuous flow of these cases for 15 years.”
“Geyer, 48, now of Wentworth, Ga., lived in Norwich Township in 2010 when federal agents searched his house as part of the bogus-parts investigation,” writes Kathy Lynn Gray of the Dispatch. “He ran the company out of that house in northwestern Franklin County.”
According to its website, Wellworth Fastener Products is listed as “an ISO-certified distributor of fasteners (industrial, commercial, military and specials).” The company address is listed as 117 Busch Lane, Rincon, GA. Web: wellworthfastener.com
Numerous counterfeit-parts cases are prosecuted in Columbus because contractors are paid through the Defense Finance and Accounting Service office here, Gray explained.
Penalties for contractors who supply bad parts range from probation to 20 years in prison. In addition, defendants often are charged with mail fraud because “they ship the parts, or with wire fraud because defense payments are wired to them.”
Some of the nonconforming parts Geyer is accused of providing were considered critical, according to the indictment against him.
The Defense Acquisition University, which provides training for defense workers in the acquisition field, concludes in a report that “counterfeit products are a pandemic crisis, growing annually.” The training center report states that while the problem is difficult to contain, efforts to control it are increasing, both in the military and in industry.
About 200 cases a year are investigated for possible fraud, and about 10 a year are turned over for prosecution, according to Edward Hintz, chief counsel for the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime. ©2012/2014 Fastener Industry News.
Editor’s Note: Articles in Media Spotlight are excerpts from publications or broadcasts, which show the industry what the public is reading or hearing about fasteners and fastener companies.
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2014 FIN ? Prison Sentence Issued for Man Who Sold Counterfeit Fasteners to U.S. Military

April 11, 2014 FIN – A former bodybuilder who supplied defective self-locking nuts to the U.S. military was sentenced to three years in prison, the Columbus Dispatch reports.
Martin D. Geyer, 54, pleaded guilty in September to “one count of mail fraud for shipping the parts to the military, one count of possessing a firearm while using a controlled substance, and one count of possessing anabolic steroids.”
Investigators found steroids, nine guns and 3,000 rounds of ammunition in Geyer’s Ohio home in 2010.
“He was a ticking time bomb which could well have exploded in a very literal sense,” said U.S. District Judge James L. Graham, noting that the guns in Geyer’s home were fully loaded. “His house was fortified.”
Geyer operated Wellworth Fastener Products out of home, selling nuts, bolts and screws to the U.S. Department of Defense in 2009. He falsely claimed on invoices that the parts met DoD specifications.
“Investigators said the defective parts were considered ‘critical application items,’ meaning their failure could lead to the death or injury of military personnel,” writes Kathy Lynn Gray of the Dispatch. “The parts were used in nuclear power plants and for military aircraft.”
The federal judge ordered Geyer to pay $41,340 in restitution and surrender to prison within 60 days.
Geyer reportedly plans to appeal the sentence. @2014 Fastener Industry News

2013 FIN – Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Defective Self-Locking Nuts for Military Aircraft

October 11, 2013 FIN – Martin Dale Geyer pleaded guilty to supplying counterfeit nuts, bolts and screws to the military in 2009 in a federal court in Ohio.
Geyer sold defective self-locking nuts the U.S. Department of Defense through Wellworth Fastener Products, a company he ran out of his Ohio home, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
Geyer, 53, was indicted on nine-counts. His invoices stated the fasteners met government specifications. The parts were classified as “critical application items” and could be used for military or nuclear power plant applications.
He pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud for shipping defective nuts to the military, one count of possessing anabolic steroids and one count of possessing a firearm while using a controlled substance.
Geyer could be sentenced to 20 years in prison, a fine of $100,000 for steroid possession and 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for the firearms conviction. He agreed to pay $41,340 in restitution.??Dispatch reporter Kathy Gray reported investigators found steroids, nine guns and 3,000 rounds of ammunition in Geyer’s Ohio home in 2010.??Geyer is a former bodybuilder who now lives in Wentworth, GA, according to the Columbus Dispatch. @2013/2014 Fastener Industry News.

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