Former Austal president indicted in accounting fraud scheme.

Three executives of Austal USA, including its former president, have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their alleged involvement in an accounting fraud scheme that misled investors about the company's financial condition for three years. The executives are accused of conspiring to mislead shareholders and investors about Austal USA's finances by artificially reducing and suppressing an account metric known as "estimate at completion" in relation to multiple Littoral Combat Ships that Austal was building for the U.S. Navy. If convicted, the executives face up to 30 years in federal prison for the conspiracy count and each count of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, and 20 years in prison for each count of wire fraud.