A former pricing analyst for Skokie, Illinois defense contractor MPC Products Corporation will receive $4.5 million for his part in uncovering a decade-long scheme of overbilling the federal government.

The analyst worked for MPC from 1990 to 2000, when he alleged that he was fired on a pretext for refusing to falsify costs on government contracts. The following year, he was rehired into his former position, where he secretly gathered information for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), at times wearing a wire to record conversations. As a result of the investigation, the FBI charged MPC with overcharging the federal government on 11 contracts, resulting in a $2.5 million criminal fine and a $22.5 million civil judgment. Two former MPC executives await arraignment on individual charges of obstruction of a federal audit.

In 2003, the analyst filed a lawsuit under the federal False Claims Act, which allows “whistleblowers” who uncover fraud in government contracts to receive up to 25 percent of recovered funds. In addition to the employee’s $4.5 million share of the recovered funds, MPC has agreed to pay $252,320 for his expenses and legal fees.