WASHINGTON – Boeing overcharged the Air Force by nearly $1 million for replacement parts on C-17 cargo planes, including an 8,000 percent markup for simple toilet soap dispensers, according to the Inspector General of the Pentagon.

The auditor of the Ministry of Defense revised prices paid for 46 replacement parts on the 2018-2022 C-17 and found that 12 was too expensive and nine seemed reasonably priced. He could not determine price fairness on the other 25 items.

THE Office of the Inspector General said it revised soap dispenser prices after receiving a tip from the hotline.

Boeing disputed these findings.

“We are reviewing the report, which appears to be based on an inappropriate comparison of prices paid for parts that meet aircraft and contract specifications and designs versus commodity commercial items that would not be qualified or approved for use on the C-17,” Boeing said in a statement: “We will continue to work with the OIG and the U.S. Air Force to provide a detailed written response to the report in the coming days.”

The C-17 Globemaster is one of the largest military cargo aircraft. It can transport multiple military vehicles, large pallets of humanitarian supplies or, in extreme circumstances, hundreds of people. The Air Force flew C-17s nonstop for two weeks during the turbulent withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, evacuate more than 120,000 civilians fleeing the Taliban.

Since 2011, the U.S. government has awarded Boeing more than $30 billion in contracts to purchase spare parts needed for the C-17 and be reimbursed by the Air Force.

Boeing is still trying to recover from the financial and reputational damage caused by two fatal accidents in 2018 and 2019 of its best-selling jet, the 737 Max.

It was a particularly volatile year for the aerospace giant. It came under renewed scrutiny and federal investigations after a door plug flew off a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Federal regulators limited Boeing’s production of the plane.

In July, Boeing agreed plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government for misleading regulators who approved pilot training rules for the Max. That plea agreement is pending before a federal judge in Texas.

Boeing is on its third CEO in five years, after hiring an outsider who joined the company in August. Last week, Boeing reported a third-quarter loss of more than $6 billion due to charges related to several commercial, defense and space programs.

A strike by 33,000 union machinists is now seven weeks old and has crippled production of the 737, 777 and 767 cargo planes, cutting off much-needed cash flow. New CEO Kelly Ortberg announced about 17,000 layoffs and the company will issue new shares to raise up to $19 billion to shore up its debt-laden balance sheet.

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Koenig reported from Dallas.