U.S. Navy officials probed in defense contracting scandals - تورط رسمى لمسئولون بالبحرية الأمريكية بفضائح عقود مقاولات لوزارة الدفاع

Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington man the rails as the ship pulls out of Hong Kong after a five-day port visit in this U.S. Navy handout photo dated November 14, 2011

Three senior U.S. Navy intelligence officials are under investigation in a federal probe into an alleged contract scheme to sell military firearm silencers at 200 times their cost, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

The case follows revelations last week that Vice Admiral Ted Branch, director of naval intelligence, and Rear Admiral Bruce Loveless, director of intelligence operations, are under investigation in a separate bribery scandal involving a Singapore-based defense contractor who allegedly provided other officers prostitutes and cash in exchange for sensitive information.   

According to court documents, the military was charged $1.6 million for a hot-rod mechanic in California to make the firearm silencers that cost only $8,000, according to court documents cited by the newspaper. The three civilian officials who oversee highly classified programmes arranged the order of unmarked and untraceable silencers. Their exact purpose was unclear, it said.

One intelligence official told a witness in the case that the silencers were intended for the elite commando Navy SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden, according to the court papers.

The alleged scheme to purchase the firearm silencers began only months after Navy Secretary Ray Mabus in April 2011 pledged a crackdown on contracting scandals and appointed a special oversight panel, the Post said.