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Top Air Force Official Found Dead

Apparent suicide was under investigation for taking pay for no work

By Lucas Laursen, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 16, 2007 8:20 AM CDT

(Newser) – The Air Force's second-ranked procurement official was found dead in an apparent suicide Sunday night, the Washington Post reports. Charles Riechers was under investigation for pay he received from a private consulting firm for which he apparently did no work, as well as a potential conflict of interest in a $1.2-billion contract he awarded to Boeing.

Riechers earned $26,788 from a nonprofit Commonwealth Research Institute while awaiting his Pentagon appointment earlier this year, but told the Post last month, "I really didn't do anything for CRI. I got a paycheck from them." The Air Force defended the arrangement before the Senate Armed Forces Committee, saying Riechers retained their “full support.”

Charles Riechers. (US Air Force)

US Senator Carl Levin, D-MI, member of the Senate Armed Services... (Getty Images (by Event))

An air to air refuelling tanker like the ones Riecher was attempting to procure from Boeing. (Associated Press)

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Top Air Force Official Found Dead

Apparent suicide was under investigation for taking pay for no work

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