The rotating door can be difficult to prove

Feds, contractor working to settle Ky. fraud suit

The federal government has sued a former Fort Knox contractor who attorneys say steered hundreds of thousands of military contracting dollars into his own company, saying he misused his military assignment to create a lucrative retirement for himself.

[About 2005] Meredith created and signed a deal creating an energy savings program and sent the request for proposal to Nolin. The Army awarded the $2 million deal to Nolin in October 2007, with Meredith and his company, Meredith & Co., making $200,000 off of the contract he created.

Meredith worked from 1987 through 2007 as the energy program director at Fort Knox, with the job of finding ways for the military post to conserve energy. From 1996 on, Fort Knox worked with Nolin Rural Electric Cooperative on the program. Meredith retired from the U.S. Army in August 2007 and immediately went to work for Nolin, using the same office and computer at Fort Knox he had while serving in the military.

Federal prosecutors say Meredith spent nearly two years negotiating with Nolin before retirement and had been talking with the company about a job when he wrote the contract and took the position he ultimately created.

In a dozen emails sent before his retirement, Meredith contact Nolin for details that would allow him to award the cooperative the contract and place himself in the job of implementing the deal.

On April 12, 2005, Meredith wrote in an email to Nolin, "...Have considered doing it myself...retire (And I can), and come back on Monday as a REM, IN THE SAME CHAIR, probably same office and be off the Government rolls...."

When Nolin advertised the job at Fort Knox in September 2007, only Meredith applied. Nolin's Vice President of Operations, Vince Heuser, told Defense Criminal Investigator Jared Camper that he told Meredith about the advertisement, which had been placed to make the job look legitimate, but didn't notify anyone else. Camper noted that Meredith was the lone applicant for the job.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Louisville seeks to prevent Meredith from spending any more of the money and recover what he had been paid. Court records indicate that federal prosecutors are also interested in settling the dispute. No criminal charges have been filed against Meredith or his company.