Northrop Grumman Corp., Falls Church, Va., is under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice regarding its pension plan accounting, the defense contractor disclosed in its 10-K filing with the SEC on Thursday.
The company received a criminal subpoena from the DOJ "seeking information regarding financial and cost accounting and controls that appear focused on the interest rate assumptions the company used to determine our CAS (cost accounting standards) pension expense," according to the filing.
Northrop Grumman said in the filing it is preparing to respond to the subpoena and is "in discussions with DOJ regarding the scope of the subpoena."
As of Sept. 30, Northrop Grumman had $29.3 billion in U.S. defined benefit assets, according to Pensions & Investments data.
Northrop Grumman spokesman Vic Beck said the company has nothing to add beyond the content of the filing.