Bribery and Bid-Rigging

June 19, 2015

Karen L. Finley, the former chief executive officer of a red light camera vendor, pleaded guilty to participating in an eight-year bribery and fraud scheme.  As part of her plea agreement, Finley admitted that, between 2005 and 2013, she participated in a scheme in which the company made campaign contributions to elected public officials in the cities of Columbus and Cincinnati through a consultant retained by the company.  DOJ

April 28, 2015

Japan-based Yamada Manufacturing Co. Ltd. agreed to plead guilty and pay a $2.5 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for manual (non-electric or non-hydraulic-powered) steering columns installed in cars sold in the US and elsewhere.  DOJ

March 31, 2015

Germany-based Robert Bosch GmbH, the world’s largest independent auto parts supplier, agreed to plead guilty and pay a $57.8 million criminal fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for spark plugs, oxygen sensors and starter motors sold to automobile and internal combustion engine manufacturers in the US and elsewhere.  DOJ

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