U.S. RECOVERS $31.9 MILLION IN WHISTLEBLOWER SUIT AGAINST SHIPPER TO AFGHANISTAN

A subsidiary of the Danish shipping conglomerate Maersk will pay about $32 million to settle claims of excessive charges in its transports to support American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. The whistleblower Jerry H. Brown, who previously collected $5.19 million of a $26.3 million settlement with his former employer American President Lines, will receive an additional $3.6 million in this case. He charged that Maersk charged excessive fees for refrigerated containers holding perishable cargo at U.S. bases in Afganistan and billed for security services it failed to provide.