SCANDAL: Q-Tips company bribed armorers to refuse clean rifles
PENTAGON — Pentagon officials today announced the indictment of 4,957 armorers across all branches of the military for accepting bribes from Unilever, parent company of the Q-tips brand in a press conference.
Between 2001 and 2017 the company paid out an estimated $3 million for armorers to reject rifles, requiring the needless use of hundreds of millions of additional Q-tips, investigators said.
The case opened up thanks to Ohio State finance student and Marine Corps reservist Sgt. Shanae Jackson. During a group project last Spring Jackson noticed that out of Unilever's $200 million in sales in 2016, 32% were tied to military bases across the country. Intrigued, she reached out to their corporate headquarters:
"Unilever told me it was in my best interest to stop looking into it, and that they knew where I lived," said Jackson.
"I was extremely confused. Then I had rifle qual at drill that weekend and the armorer, a lance corporal, rejected my rifle 27 times in a row after I cleaned it. W…
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