NEW YORK -- Prosecutors reportedly are looking to tie a broad weapons-buying scandal linking Boeing and the Air Force to billion-dollar rocket contracts.
The controversial government contracts, subject of a separate criminal inquiry, went to Boeing over Lockheed Martin.
The lengthy rocket probe focuses on Darleen Druyun, a former Air Force official who admitted last month to giving preferential treatment to Boeing in exchange for jobs for her and family members, the Wall Street Journal said.
Federal prosecutors are re-examining whether Druyun, the Air Force's second-ranking weapons-procurement official for nearly a decade, improperly influenced launch contracts awarded to Boeing from 1998 to 2000.
Prosecutors had been concentrating on other aspects, generally dealing with mid-level Boeing managers and the improper acquisition of Lockheed rocket data.
"There is absolutely no basis to the claim ... that Darleen Druyun showed favoritism towards Boeing" in the rocket competition while at the Air Force, Boeing said in a statement Thursday.
