The former owner and CEO of an armored vehicle company was found guilty Thursday on three counts of major fraud against the United States, three counts of wire fraud and three counts of false claims.

William Whyte, 72, of Ontario, Canada, was found guilty following a two-week trial, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Virginia.

Whyte’s company, Armet Armed Vehicles Inc., supplied only six of the 24 vehicles it had been contracted to provide the Defense Department for use by high-level Iraqi dignitaries, according to the release.

Both contracts stipulated that the vehicles needed to be able to repel armor-piercing bullets in the passenger compartments and ceilings, as well as have plate protection along the vehicles’ undercarriages to withstand explosives on the road, according to the release.

Additionally, the vehicles were required to have run-flat tires, which would keep the vehicles drivable even if their tires were shot out. However, none of the six vehicles ultimately supplied met the ballistic and blast-protection standards required by the contracts, according to the release.

“The defendant put his personal financial interests ahead of the safety of our brave men and women in uniform who risked their lives serving in Iraq,” acting United States Attorney Rick Mountcastle said.

Evidence presented at trial showed Whyte knew the six armored vehicles failed to meet the contract’s standards, and were intentionally under-armored, despite his claims to the contrary, according to the release. The prosecutors also presented evidence that Whyte intentionally misrepresented other issues to U.S. military officers about the contracts and vehicles, according to the release.

“Stealing from taxpayers by defrauding the government is bad enough. Doing it in a way that imperils our warfighters and delivers to them equipment which is faulty or insufficient — that’s a special kind of despicable,” said Adam Lee, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Richmond Division.



× Fear of missing out? Sign up for the Army Times Daily News Roundup to receive the top Army stories every afternoon. Thanks for signing up. By giving us your email, you are opting in to the Army Times Daily News Roundup.

The two contracts, agreed upon in April and June 2006, that Armet failed to meet were worth $6.4 million combined, according to the release. The company was initially paid more than $2 million for the six delivered vehicles, including a roughly $800,000 progress payment that Whyte requested, according to the release.

“I hope this case sends a message to those who contract with the government to provide essential equipment to our troops in support of their critical mission,” Lee said. “The FBI will be on your trail if you betray them this way and steal from the taxpayers who fund them.”