Austal USA Hires New Chief Compliance Officer
Austal USA has hired Adam Overstreet as vice president of legal affairs and chief compliance officer.
Overstreet will manage a broad spectrum of legal issues, including employment and labor law matters, commercial transactions, and litigation. As the company’s chief compliance officer, Overstreet will oversee and strengthen the execution of compliance activities throughout the organization.
“Austal USA takes compliance with all laws and government regulations seriously,” Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh stated. “Adam’s deep and diverse experience in compliance, investigations, litigation, and federal procurement makes him well-suited to place Austal in the best position for continued success as a top maritime defense contractor.”
Overstreet joins Austal USA with over 20 years of legal experience. Serving most recently as Huntington Ingalls Industries Ingalls Shipbuilding Division’s senior counsel, he supervised internal investigations for Ingalls and managed the litigation docket for HII’s Mission Technologies Division. Overstreet also served as an Assistant United States Attorney for 10 years, specializing in the prosecution of white collar crimes.
Overstreet earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Auburn University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Alabama School of Law.
In March 2023, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging three Alabama men from Austal USA. According to court documents, from at least in or around 2013 through at least in or around July 2016, Craig Perciavalle, 52, Joseph Runkel, 54, and William Adams, 63, all of Mobile, and their co-conspirators allegedly conspired to mislead Austal Limited’s shareholders and the investing public about Austal USA’s financial condition.
Specifically, the defendants are alleged to have artificially reduced and suppressed an accounting metric known as “estimate at completion” in relation to multiple LCS ships that Austal USA was building for the U.S. Navy. Suppressing the EACs allegedly falsely overstated Austal Limited’s reported earnings in its public financial statements.
Perciavalle, Adams, and Runkel are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud affecting a financial institution, five counts of wire fraud, and two counts of wire fraud affecting a financial institution. If convicted, they each face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for the conspiracy count and each count of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, and 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud.