Our sources in Washington, D.C. tell us the allegations against Black Hall Aerospace a/k/a AAL USA Inc. were referred to investigators in Huntsville.

We strongly believe our conversations with the Office of the Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III may have spurred multiple probes.

Both the Military Criminal Investigations Command and a Special Inspector General of the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Defense are allegedly still probing the company.

The Special Inspector General is looking specifically at Afghanistan operations.

With the change of leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives, our outreach and debriefing of leading staff members, more questions may arise of what exactly Balch & Bingham did to successfully change Russian sanction in November of 2015, and why they engaged in a website scrub in 2017.

More importantly, Capitol Hill staffers are concerned about Russian-linked entities engage in alleged money laundering.

As we reported before, Black Hall Aerospace allegedly engaged in smurfing, the act of wiring money in amounts just below the reporting requirements to circumvent U.S. law.

Black Hall’s current CEO acknowledged to us that those hundreds, if not thousands, of wire payments were to employees in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Russia.

The bank that processed those wire transfers is a Balch & Bingham client.

In recent weeks, we have heard from leading media in London who are interested in Soviet-immigrant Oleg Sirbu, the alleged ex-owner of AAL USA, Inc. who lives in Dubai.

2019 may bring some new surprises.

An update to our June post about ex-Balch & Bingham client Black Hall Aerospace a/k/a AAL USA, Inc. losing a piece of a $25 billion military contract: the winners of that contract have been pulled, and Leidos and Black Hall now have a second shot to win the award, but it is not a sure thing.

Washington Technology reports:

Leidos and Black Hall Aerospace will get a second shot at a $25.5 billion logistics contract now that the Army has decided to pull back awards to the six original winners and conduct a new evaluation.

Leidos and Black Hall filed protests with the Government Accountability Office shortly after they failed to win spots on the Worldwide Logistics Support Services contract when it was awarded in April.

After moving through GAO’s process for several weeks, the Army pulled the awards….

The contract will be used for a wide range logistics services including support, maintenance support, supply support, aircraft and flight operations, training, training aids, engineering services and contractor field teams.

Leidos and Black Hall have their second chance at the award but it is no guarantee. They may win an award this time or they might not.

Balch & Bingham had represented Black Hall as the Huntsville-based aerospace company lobbied on Capitol Hill to have Russian sanctions changed. The sanctions were successfully modified in November of 2015.

Black Hall alleges Balch fired the aerospace client abruptly last year after our initial reporting.

We have called on the federal government repeatedly to conduct a forensic audit of Black Hall Aerospace, especially since they were the beneficiary of federal monies as a subcontractor to aerospace giant Leidos. The skyrocketing revenue growth by Black Hall looks unusual.

We, the CDLU, appear to have spurred three different federal probes of the aerospace company.

The legal dispute between Oleg Sirbu, the Soviet immigrant who allegedly owned AAL USA, Inc. and Paul Daigle, the CEO of Black Hall Aerospace was settled this past spring.

As we wrote recently, our efforts reporting about Black Hall Aerospace a/k/a AAL USA, Inc. appears to have spurred three different federal probes.

Balch & Bingham had represented Black Hall as the Huntsville-based aerospace company lobbied on Capitol Hill to have Russian sanctions changed. The sanctions were successfully modified in November of 2015.

We have called on the federal government repeatedly to conduct a forensic audit of Black Hall Aerospace, especially since they were the beneficiary of federal monies as a subcontractor to aerospace giant Leidos. The skyrocketing revenue growth by Black Hall looks unusual.

Black Hall alleges Balch fired the aerospace client abruptly last year after our initial reporting.

Now Leidos and Black Hall have lost a big piece of a $25 billion, 10-year government contract.

Washington Technology reports:

Leidos found itself on the wrong end in a competition for a $25.5 billion logistics contract and is appealing to the Government Accountability Office for another shot.

The Army’s Worldwide Logistics Support Services contract went to six other companies….

WLSS-C covers a wide range of logistics services including logistics support, maintenance support, supply support, aircraft and flight operations, training, training aids, engineering services and contractor field teams.

A performance work statement that was part of the solicitation package describes a task order to support the Afghanistan Air Force with services to help the Afghan military take over the duties of maintaining and managing their aircraft.

This contract is a new vehicle but pulls together a variety of predecessor support contracts into one new procurement that runs through April 2028. It is open to any Defense Department customer as well as allies.

In addition to Leidos, Black Hall Aerospace also filed a protest. Black Hall is based in Huntsville, Alabama.

Black Hall filed its bid protest April 16 and a decision is due July 25. Leidos filed its protest April 20 and expects a decision from GAO by July 30.

Unfortunately, Black Hall’s former ties to a law firm with two indicted partners facing a criminal trial in two weeks appears to not have helped them in the long term.

Balch tarnished their own brand with alleged unsavory, unprofessional, and criminal conduct;  and now Balch and some of their clients appear to be facing the harsh consequences.

We learned late last week that the two parties at Black Hall Aerospace a/k/a AAL USA, Inc. Soviet-born Oleg Sirbu, the alleged owner who lives in Dubai, and military veteran Paul Daigle, who serves as CEO, have settled their civil case.

The question now is: what will criminal probes find?

We learned two-weeks ago that the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Defense is looking into the matter, and have now also confirmed that the Military Criminal Investigations Command is also investigating.

Balch & Bingham successfully changed Russian sanctions for the firm and then scrubbed their website of the success after we exposed the issue last year.

We also learned recently that Balch & Bingham allegedly fired Black Hall Aerospace last year at the height of our exposure of the relationship.

If true, why would Balch have abruptly ended their lucrative relationship?

The revenue growth at the Russian-linked aerospace company was enormous at the time the lobbying took place. The skyrocketing revenue raises red flags, and serious concerns and questions.

We also reached out to the Office of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III earlier this year about alleged smurfing, the intentional act of breaking down a transaction into smaller transactions to avoid investigation by the authorities, to Russia and other foreign countries by Black Hall Aerospace.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of foreign wire transactions were made below the $10,000 government-reporting triggering point. Paul Daigle confirmed many wire transfers were made but said they were wages to employees in the Ukraine, Russia, and Afghanistan.

We are not at the least surprised that multiple investigations are happening concurrently.

These investigations appear to have started because of our investigative work and Balch’s foolish website scrub, which Balch described as an innocuous website update.

Our high-level sources confirmed yesterday evening that the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Defense is looking at Black Hall Aerospace, Inc. a/k/a AAL USA, Inc., the Russian-linked aerospace company  for which Balch & Bingham had successfully changed Russian sanctions.

We hope the OIG takes a deeper look at Balch & Bingham’s influence peddling in Washington, DC on behalf of Black Hall Aerospace.

In May of 2017, Balch & Bingham appears to have deceived the public and Politico.com  about their relationship with the Russian-linked company owned by Oleg Sirbu, a Soviet-immigrant who lives in Dubai.

Politico.com reported then that in a statement Balch & Bingham said they “previously represented an American subcontractor to a large U.S. aerospace company, which had a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to maintain Russian-made helicopters purchased by the Obama Administration.”  Balch also justified their website scrub to Politico.com, “We recently updated content on our website to avoid any misunderstanding as to the nature of our representation.”

As we explained in a letter to Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III at the time, Balch went from representing Black Hall Aerospace as a subcontracted lobbyist to representing them directly.

“What is the difference? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Lobbying is lobbying either done directly or as a subcontractor. We are not surprised by this deception,” we wrote.

Then this year we learned that Balch & Bingham allegedly fired Black Hall Aerospace at the time.

If true, why would Balch have abruptly ended their lucrative relationship?

The revenue growth at the Russian-linked aerospace company was enormous at the time the lobbying took place. The skyrocketing revenue raises red flags, and serious concerns and questions.

According to an online publication,  AAL USA, Inc. and/or Black Hall Aerospace, Inc., went from generating $6.5 million in 2014 with 15 employees, to over an estimated $100 million in 2016 with 450 employees.   Likewise, according to a court filing, AAL USA Inc. had less than $1 million in revenue with fewer than 20 employees in 2014 but grew to over 400 employees and $50 million in revenue by 2016.

In our phone conversation last year with Thomas M. Countryman, the former U.S. Department of State official who drafted the sanctions exemptions in November of 2015, the decision to make those changes to Russian sanctions came from either the U.S. Department of Defense, Homeland Security, or State.

Did officials at the U.S. Department of Defense meet with lobbyists from Balch & Bingham? Did then-U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions staff (Balch allies) meet with DOD staff and push the changes after meeting with Balch & Bingham lobbyists? How did Balch & Bingham assist their client with the procurement and contracting process? Did Balch & Bingham benefit financially in any way from the contracting and enormous growth at Black Hall Aerospace from DOD expenditures in Afghanistan and elsewhere?

We applaud the OIG for their investigative efforts.

After 20 years at Balch & Bingham, William F. Stiers, their top-Washington, D.C. lobbyist, left the firm in November. 

Stiers announcement came shortly after half of Balch’s paying lobbying clients dumped the firm that October.

In our 48 minute conversation yesterday with Paul Daigle, the CEO of Black Hall Aerospace, Inc., Daigle alleges that Stiers was fired and may have been given time to find a new position as a courtesy.

Saying that Stiers was an upstanding professional, Daigle opined that Stiers may have not wanted to adhere to demands by Balch.

In November, Politico.com quoted Stiers as saying, “The Balch platform is great for energy and environmental issues but my portfolio doesn’t sync with that.”

Really?  Stiers worked for Balch for 20 years, and he finally figured out he was out of sync?

We actually think bribery allegations, federal indictments, criminal conspiracies, and website scrubs didn’t sync with Stiers. We are pleased he found another firm to work for.

Daigle also wanted to clarify the record with us.

Daigle said that AAL USA, Inc. was a franchise of AAL Group Ltd. and that Oleg Sirbu, the Soviet-born immigrant, had not invested financially into Black Hall. He, his then-pregnant wife, and a friend were the ones that made Black Hall Aerospace, Inc. a success.

Although under heavy dispute in a civil court case, Daigle was adamant that Oleg Sirbu, who currently lives in Dubai, had nothing to do with Black Hall Aerospace, Inc. whatsoever.

[Update 3/22/2018: Paul Daigle wrote to us and we have made a change. “I wanted to clarify that – in the second to last paragraph – AAL USA (not Black Hall, as written) was a franchise of AAL Group in the UAE. It’s an important distinction.”]

Yesterday, we had a 48 minute phone conversation with the CEO of Black Hall Aerospace, Inc.,  Paul Daigle, who had written to us via email at the end of January.

We spoke of many things, and listened carefully to the military veteran who has been involved in heated civil litigation with Oleg Sirbu, the Soviet-born immigrant.

Balch & Bingham represented Black Hall Aerospace as lobbyists in Washington D.C. between 2014 and 2017.

Mr. Daigle told us that he wanted to reach out to us last year, when we initially exposed the fact that Balch & Bingham had represented a Russian-linked aerospace company on February 15, 2017, to correct the record.

But according to Daigle, Balch allegedly discouraged him telling him that the CDLU was “nothing” and to ignore us.

Interestingly, Oleg Sirbu’s attorneys did the opposite, and reached out to us immediately. The CDLU met with Burr Forman attorneys on February 28, 2017.

Two days later, on March 2, 2017, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the Russian investigation while Balch & Bingham, his #2 lifetime financial supporter as U.S. Senator,  scrubbed their website of any reference to successfully changing Russian sanctions.

Coincidence? Daigle could not tell us why the website scrub occurred on the same day Sessions recused himself, but opined that anything “with an R” (as in Russian) is bad for one’s image right now especially in Washington, D.C.

How bad?

Daigle alleges that Balch ended the relationship with Black Hall Aerospace, telling him around May of 2017 that Balch could no longer represent his firm.

And what caused this sudden change of heart?

Could it have been that “nothing” they ignored?

With national reports in Politico.com complemented by a digital and cable tv ad campaign against Balch & Bingham’s controversies, CDLU was embarked in an intense educational campaign in Washington D.C. about Balch & Bingham’s alleged unscrupulous conduct about the same time Balch allegedly fired Black Hall Aerospace as their client.

Nothing to this story, they say. Nothing.