A foundry owned by Bradken for the past 30 years produces substandard steel sold to the US military to build submarines.

Bradken, a subsidiary of Japan's Hitachi Mechanical Engineering, agreed to pay US $ 10,896,924 to settle allegations of "manufacturing and selling substandard steel components for mounting on US Navy submarines".

Bradken is considered a supplier of high elastic steel to the US Navy.

For the past 30 years, the foundry "manufactures products that do not pass laboratory tests and do not meet navy standards."

Prosecutors said no high-ranking Bradken personnel were aware of the fraud until a laboratory employee in May 2017 discovered that the company's records had many false points, such as

Bradken then issued a statement that these deviations were not the result of fraud.

Elaine Thomas, 66, who once led the Bradken metallurgy department, was charged with "large-scale fraud targeting the US".

Thomas said she did not intentionally falsify test results and will stand trial on June 30.

"Bradken puts the lives of sailors and US Navy operations at risk," General Attorney Brian Moran said in a Justice Department statement.

Agent Bryan Denny, head of the Western Field Office of the Defense Criminal Investigation Agency (DCIS), said: "This case clearly demonstrates any unethical behavior by contractors or subcontractors.

The US Navy continued to allow Bradken to act as a contractor after agreeing to "streamline control processes and comply with quality procedures," the US Department of Justice said in the statement.