Bribery and Bid-Rigging

Three South Korean Companies to Pay $236 Million, Resolving Civil and Criminal Liability for Bid Rigging Alleged in Constantine Cannon Whistleblower Suit

The Justice Department announced that SK Energy Co. Ltd., GS Caltex Corporation, and Hanjin Transportation Co. Ltd. collectively agreed to pay $236 million for their respective roles in a decade-long conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices, thereby overcharging the U.S. Government on contracts to supply fuel to U.S. military bases throughout South Korea. The deal resolves False Claims Act allegations against the three...

November 14, 2018

The United States and three South Korea-based companies, SK Energy Co. Ltd., GS Caltex Corporation, and Hanjin Transportation Co. Ltd., have reached an agreement to resolve criminal and civil claims arising from the defendants' alleged bid-rigging and price-fixing in contracts to supply fuel to U.S. military bases in South Korea.  As a result of this conduct, the Department of Defense paid substantially inflated...

November 8, 2018

The United States charged two South Korean nationals, Hyeong-won Lee and Dong-guel Lee, of defrauding the federal government in connection with two multimillion dollar construction contracts their employer, South Korea-based SK Engineering & Construction Co., Ltd., (SK), had with the U.S. Army. From 2008 to 2017, acting on behalf of SK, the two allegedly submitted fraudulent subcontracts that were based on millions of...

October 26, 2018

A former U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs official, James King, pleaded guilty to demanding and receiving bribes from three for-profit schools, Atius Technology Institute, Eelon Training Academy, and School A, in exchange for enrolling disabled military veterans in those schools.  All three school owners sent King and other VA officials false information about the education being provided to veterans.  King...

Catch of the Week — VA Official Pleads Guilty to Bribery, Fraud, and Obstruction in $2 Million Scheme

A former U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs official, James King of Baltimore, Maryland, pleaded guilty to demanding and receiving bribes from three for-profit schools in exchange for enrolling disabled military veterans in those schools. King facilitated over $2 million in improper payments from the VA using the veterans’ federal benefits. He pleaded guilty to one count of honest services and money/property wire...

October 18, 2018

A political consultant has plead guilty to illegally influencing the awarding of a Department of Energy contract to renovate part of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The consultant, Derf Butler, was allegedly approached by a developer who paid him $15,000 in cash to locate other developers and convince them to submit higher bids in exchange for subcontractor work on the project. He then lied to...

September 24, 2018

Azam Doost, the former owner of Equity Capital Mining LLC, which operated a marble mine in Afghanistan, was convicted for defrauding the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a U.S. government agency in a $15.8 million loan the company obtained from OPIC. Doost had represented that he had no affiliation with mine suppliers who were paid from the loan proceeds; in fact, he had financial relationships with several of...

August 6, 2018

Richard Olsen, the CFO of Mission Support Alliance LLC, a Department of Energy contractor, will pay $124,000 to resolve allegations that he received a $40,000 kickback from Lockheed Martin. According to the allegations, Mr. Olsen received the kickback in exchange for a Lockheed Martin subsidiary receiving a lucrative subcontract. Mission Support Alliance is a Lockheed Martin subsidiary as well. USAO Eastern District...

July 16, 2018

An former airport contractor has plead guilty to paying over $5M in bribes and kickbacks to a field inspector at the Wayne Country Airport Authority in Wayne County, Michigan. According to the government’s allegations, William Pritula, paid the bribes in kickbacks in exchange for favorable treatment for his company, Pritula and Sons, in contracts for pavement repair and fire hydrant installation at Detroit’s...

November 28, 2017

Nebraska McAlpine, a former employee of a U.S. government contractor in Afghanistan, was sentenced to 21 months in prison for accepting over $250,000 in illegal kickbacks from an Afghan subcontractor in return for his assistance in obtaining subcontracts on U.S. government contracts.  DOJ