MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — A federal grand jury has indicted the former president of Austal USA, and two other former Austal executives, with “orchestrating an accounting fraud scheme,” at the Mobile shipyard, according to a release from the Unites States Department of Justice.

Craig Perciavalle, 52, Joseph Runkel, 54, a former financial analyst at Austal, and William Adams, 63, former director of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program at Austal, are all accused of misleading Austal shareholders and potential investors about the the company’s financial situation. 

Prosecutors say the scheme involved the LSC program and took place between 2013 and 2016. The three men allegedly “falsely overstated” Austal’s reported earnings in its public financial statements. Prosecutor’s say that hid growing costs that should have been incorporated into Austal’s financial statements and reflected in Austal Limited’s report.

In 2021, Perciavalle resigned as President of Austal due to an investigation by the U.S. DOJ and the Securities Exchange Commission.

All three men face up to 30 years in prison, if convicted. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is assisting the U.S. Justice Department in this case. 

Since 2008, Austal has built 14 LCS in Mobile, with another five currently in production.

WKRG reached out to a spokesperson at Austal who declined to provide a statement.