Archive

March 23, 2015

Former principal vice president of Bechtel Corporation Asem Elgawhary was sentenced to 42 months in prison for accepting $5.2 million in kickbacks to manipulate the competitive bidding process for state-run power contracts in Egypt.  One of the power companies who supplied the bribes, Alstom S.A., pleaded guilty in December to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  DOJ

February 20, 2015

George H. Lee, president and CEO of Kuwaiti-based American Logistics Services, pleaded guilty to paying a $15,000 bribe to an Army National Guard officer in exchange for the award of a contract to provide buses to the US Army in Iraq.  DOJ

February 11, 2015

Two US Army sergeants, James Edward Norris of Fort Irwin, California, and Seneca Darnell Hampton of Fort Benning, Georgia, pleaded guilty for accepting bribes from Afghan truck drivers at Forward Operating Base Gardez, Afghanistan in exchange for allowing the drivers to take thousands of gallons of fuel from the base for resale on the black market.  DOJ

January 15, 2015

US Navy contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia and its owner and CEO Leonard Glenn Francis pleaded guilty to bribery and fraud charges, admitting to a decade-long conspiracy involving “scores” of US Navy officials, tens of millions of dollars in fraud and millions of dollars in bribes and gifts. As part of his guilty plea, Francis admitted to defrauding the Navy of tens of millions of dollars by routinely overbilling for various goods and services, including fuel, tugboat services and sewage disposal. Francis and GDMA agreed to forfeit $35M and pay full restitution to the Navy. DOJ

January 6, 2015

US Navy Officer Jose Luis Sanchez pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges admitting he provided a government contractor with classified ship schedules and other internal US Navy information in exchange for cash, travel and entertainment expenses, as well as the services of prostitutes. He is the fifth to plead guilty in the corruption probe involving Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), a defense contractor based in Singapore that serviced US Navy ships and submarines throughout the Pacific. DOJ

December 15, 2014

Alaska and Virginia-based technology contractors Eyak Technology LLC and Eyak Services LLC agreed to pay $2.5M to settle charges of alleged False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Act violations. According to the government, from 2005 to 2011 EyakTek held a $1 billion prime contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and EyakTek’s then-director of contracts, Harold Babb, accepted kickbacks from several subcontractors of EyakTek and ESL in return for using his position to direct subcontracts to them. In March 2012, Babb pleaded guilty to bribery and kickback charges and was sentenced to 87 months in prison and to pay more than $9M. DOJ

December 4, 2014

Asem Elgawhary, former Principal Vice President of Bechtel Corporation and General Manager of the Power Generation Engineering and Services Company (PGESCo), pleaded guilty in connection with a $5.2M kickback scheme intended to manipulate the competitive bidding process for state-run power contracts in Egypt. In his plea agreement, Elgawhary admitted that, from 1996 to 2011, he was assigned by Bechtel to be the general manager at PGESCo, a joint venture between Bechtel and Egypt’s state-owned and state-controlled electricity company (EEHC) and that he accepted a total of $5.2M from three power companies, which they paid to secure a competitive and unfair advantage in the bidding process. DOJ

December 1, 2014

Kosei Tamura, a general manager for Japan-based auto radiator manufacturer T.RAD Co. Ltd., agreed to plead guilty and to serve one year in a U.S. prison for participating in a conspiracy to fix prices of radiators installed in cars sold to Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and certain of its subsidiaries in the US and elsewhere. In addition to the prison sentence, Tamura agreed to pay a $20,000 criminal fine and to cooperate with DOJ’s ongoing investigation. In November 2013, T.RAD pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $13.75M criminal fine for its role in the conspiracy. Including today’s charges, 48 individuals have been charged in the ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. Additionally, 32 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty and have agreed to pay a total of more than $2.4 billion in fines. DOJ

December 1, 2014

Kazumi Umahashi, former General Manager of Japanese auto parts maker Mitsuba Corporation, agreed to plead guilty and serve 13 months in prison for conspiring to fix the prices and allocate the supply of windshield wiper systems and starter motors sold to Honda Motor Co. Ltd. and its subsidiaries and affiliates in the U.S. and elsewhere. He also agreed to pay a $20,000 criminal fine. In November 2013 Mitsuba pleaded guilty for its involvement in the conspiracy and agreed to pay $135M in criminal fines. Including today’s charges, 48 individuals have been charged in DOJ’s ongoing investigation into price fixing and bid rigging in the auto parts industry. Additionally, 32 companies have pleaded guilty or agreed to plead guilty and have agreed to pay a total of more than $2.4 billion in fines. DOJ

November 24, 2014

Two Northern California real estate investors, Su Chu Chou “Terry” Cheng and Chung Li “George” Cheng, agreed to plead guilty for their role in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California. According to the government, between May 2008 and January 2011, George and Terry Cheng conspired with others not to bid against one another, and instead designated a winning bidder to obtain selected properties at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. To date, as a result of DOJ’s ongoing antitrust investigations into bid rigging and fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California, 49 individuals have agreed to plead or have pleaded guilty. DOJ