So, were the Made in the USA labels actually made in the USA?

Oh, they’re a small company – only $90M in revenue over a 10-year period – but they’re big on “corporate philosophies”. Here’s what Aventura Technologies has to say about their Values, Mission and Vision.

At Aventura our corporate philosophies are not merely words but actionable items. These words are the foundation, which have made Aventura the success it has become. Value, mission and vision are the core principles we live by.

Our values are how we conduct ourselves in our everyday business:

• Commitment to quality, health and safety
• An open door policy and personal relationships with our employees based upon mutual respect
• Transparent environment with complete accountability
• Utmost of integrity in everything we do
• Fiscal responsibility to our stakeholders

Well, the Feds have a somewhat different definition of “utmost of integrity” than the spinners at Aventura. They’ve accused this security technology outfit of slapping Made in the USA labels on products that were made in China. And selling these products to the military:

Because of misrepresentations made to the US government, Aventura was paid tens of millions of dollars for Chinese manufactured surveillance systems that ended up on Army and Air Force bases, in Department of Energy facilities, on Navy installations and even on US aircraft carriers," [Richard P. Donoghue, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York] Donoghue said. (Source: CNN)

Risky business, for U.S. security.

"Obviously when you have Chinese-made cameras with (Chinese) software loaded into them networked into sensitive installations such as Army bases, Navy bases, Department of Energy facilities, and even American aircraft carriers, that causes great concern for our national security," Donoghue said.

"Had we known that this was Chinese software, we may have been able to take steps to patch it and address that risk but because this was masked and we did not know this was Chinese software, in many instances those steps were not taken," he added.

Aventura apparently didn’t try all that hard to cover up their fraud. The scheme finally unraveled when someone noticed screens on “Made in USA” devices coming up in Chinese. Oh. Maybe this was just Aventura being transparent. After all, transparency is one of the company’s philosophies.

Seven current and former employees have been charged, including Aventura’s founder, Jack Cabasso, and his wife Frances. Her involvement was primarily lending her name to the enterprise so that it could take advantage of women-owned-businesses programs. The Cabassos are also accused of money-laundering, passing money through to shell companies that benefited them. They got to use some of the scam proceeds to buy themselves a 70 foot luxury yacht. Because of course.

All part of their “fiscal responsibility to their stakeholders” I suppose.

Jack Cabasso sure didn’t lack for balls. Among other things:

…prosecutors allege he attempted to rat out other government contractors for running the exact same scheme as his company.

In one email exchange with a government official, he complained that there is a “big problem” with vendors “listing from a company that is actually the Communist Chinese Government and has ‘significant’ cybersecurity issues,” according to court documents. (Source: NY Post)

Lame! I know from personal experience – as a four-year-old pointing out that my brother Tom wasn’t eating his peas -  that this point the finger strategy can only buy you so much time.

This is not Jack Cabasso’s first run in with the law. He has a decades-long track record of convictions of “a handful of crimes relating to fraud, grand larceny, and corruption,” including juror intimidation.

Looks like he and his crew may be trading in their “open door policy” for some time behind the closed bars in the slammer. And the Aventura corporate philosophy of “complete accountability” will sure be getting a tryout.

Having written quite a few mission and vision statements over the year, I appreciate that they can be utterly full of shite. Generally well-intentioned shite, but shite nonetheless. Aventura’s shite doesn’t even sound well-intentioned.

What I always wonder when I read about cases like this is whether folks just “honestly” believe that they can pull scams like this off. That Aventura was able to do so for a decade or so suggests that, yes, they can.

They may have been able to get away with it for so long because they’re so small potatoes. The US defense budget is roughly $700B. Aventura’s 10-year rake-in from the Feds was only $20M. Trace elements.

I’d hate to be a legit Aventura employee – if there are any who weren’t in on the con - showing up for work – if there is still work – and having to deal with this mess.

There they are, pondering the Aventura “corporate philosophies” and asking themselves the big question: Were our Made in the USA labels actually made in the USA?