ToDate, 19 Individuals Have Pleaded Guilty or Been Convicted at Trial in OngoingCorruption Investigation
WASHINGTON – A federal jury in Elkins,W. Va., convicted Richard Evick, a U.S. Army Sergeant First Class andNon-Commissioned Officer in charge of contracting at a U.S. military base inKuwait, and his associate, Crystal Martin, of all counts with which they werecharged in connection with a bribery and money laundering scheme related todefense contracts awarded in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, announcedAssistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s CriminalDivision and U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld II for the Northern District ofWest Virginia. Evick was found guilty yesterday of one countof bribery conspiracy, two counts of bribery, one count of money launderingconspiracy, six counts of money laundering and one count of obstructing anagency proceeding. Martin was foundguilty of one count of bribery conspiracy, one count of money launderingconspiracy and four counts of money laundering.
“As the highest ranking enlisted officer inthe U.S. Army’s contracting office at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, Mr. Evick had aspecial duty to strike deals in the best interests of the American people,”said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “Instead, he steered business to dirty contractors in exchange for tensof thousands of dollars in cash and other items. Mr. Evick, Ms. Martin and theirco-conspirators defrauded the government they had sworn to serve. To date, our investigation has led to the convictionsof 19 individuals, and we will continue aggressively to pursue corruption andprocurement fraud wherever we find it.”
“The investigation and prosecution of publiccorruption cases continues to be a top priority for the Department of Justicein West Virginia and throughout the country,” said U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld. “Fortunately the vast majority of our publicofficials are honest and trustworthy, but those who are not will be heldaccountable.”
Evick served as the U.S. Army’s Non-CommissionOfficer in charge of contracting at Camp Arifjan between 2005 and 2006. In that capacity, Evick had the authority toarrange for the award of valuable contracts to supply the U.S. military withbottled water and catering services, maintain Army barracks and installsecurity barriers, among other things.
Evidence presented at trial demonstrated thatEvick and his co-conspirators manipulated the contracting process in severalways, including disclosing confidential information about the U.S. military’splans to procure goods and services and accepting fake bids. In this manner, Evick and two of his fellowcontacting officials, former Army Majors James Momon and Chris Murray, steerednearly $24 million worth of contracting business to certain contractors. In exchange, these contractors paid Evickmore than $170,000 in bribes, a free New Year’s Eve trip to Dubai and parties.
Among the persons who paid Evick these bribeswas Wajdi Birjas, a civilian U.S. government employee at Camp Arifjan who had asecret interest in a military contractor operating in Kuwait. Birjas testified that he provided phony bidsto Evick from purportedly independent contractors who were, in reality,controlled by the same individuals. Theevidence showed that Evick used these bids to create the false impression thatthe contracts were awarded according to Army contracting rules providing for acompetitive bidding process. Birjas alsotestified that he had a hidden safe at his villa where Momon stored more than$800,000 in bribe money and which Evick used to exchange a large amount ofKuwaiti currency for U.S. dollars.
According to the evidence, Evick gave much ofhis bribe money to Martin, who had a concession from the Army and Air forceExchange Service to sell merchandise at Camp Arifjan, which was primarily acash business. Evick and Martin thentransferred tens of thousands of dollars worth of Evick’s bribe money to theU.S. into the hands of Evick’s wife and his girlfriend. The evidence showed that, in order to concealthe fact that this was bribe money, Evick and Martin converted the money intoWestern Union wires, money orders, cashiers checks and personal checks. Evick and Martin also smuggled cash into theU.S. on their persons, Martin often taking military transport flights to avoidcustoms screening. Evick used his bribemoney, among other things, to purchase and construct a residence on three andone half acres in Parsons, W. Va., and to buy a pickup truck.
The evidence showed that Evick and Martin alsoparticipated in a scheme to smuggle $250,000 of bribe money belonging to Momoninto the U.S. Momon testified about asummer 2006 meeting at Kuwait international airport with Evick and Martin, atwhich Martin described how she was laundering Evick’s bribe money and offeredto provide the same service for Momon. According to evidence presented at trial, Evick offered to bury Momon’smoney on Evick’s West Virginia property. When law enforcement agents interviewed Evick several months later aboutcorruption at Camp Arifjan, Evick falsely stated that he did not know thecontractor from whom evidence showed he had received a $150,000 bribe, amongother things.
“Contingency contracting provides anopportunity for honest contractors to excel but still runs the inherent risk offraudulent activity that plagues all government contracting,” said SpecialAgent in Charge Robert Craig of the Defense Criminal InvestigativeService. “While our service members anddefense civilians expect the best from their supporting contracts, we root outthe worst and, working alongside our law enforcement partners, continue toaggressively bring those who defraud our nation’s warfighters to justice.”
“We are very pleased with the guilty verdictsin this case,” said Frank Robey, the director of the U.S. Army CriminalInvestigation Command’s Major Procurement Fraud Unit. “It is a warning to anyone, in or out ofuniform, who attempts to defraud the Army or the government that we willinvestigate credible allegations and bring those responsible to justice. Our agents have done a remarkable jobinvestigating this case along with our fellow law enforcement partners and theDOJ.”
“The fact that a jury convicted these twoindividuals on all 11 counts stands as a powerful reminder that those who break the public trust to engage inbribery and money laundering with funds meant for the reconstruction of Iraqwill face the full force of the law,” said Stuart W. Bowen, Special InspectorGeneral for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR). “SIGIR and those who work with us will continue work on those casesstill open against those involved in illegal acts.”
Evick and Martin face a maximum sentence offive years in prison for bribery conspiracy, 20 years in prison for moneylaundering conspiracy and 20 years in prison for each count of moneylaundering. Evick also faces a maximumof 15 years in prison for each count of bribery, five years for obstructing anagency proceeding and the forfeiture of the proceeds of his bribe scheme, whichincludes his West Virginia residence. They also face maximum fines of $250,000 per count. They will be sentenced by Chief U.S. DistrictJudge John Preston Bailey. Theirsentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
The case against Evick and Martin arose from acorruption probe focusing on the contracting office at Camp Arifjan, a U.S.military base in Kuwait. As a result ofthis investigation, 19 individuals, including Evick and Martin, have pleadedguilty or been found guilty at trial for their roles in the scheme. Momon pleaded guilty in August 2009 toreceiving approximately $1.6 million in bribes and agreed to pay $5.7 millionin restitution, and he is awaiting sentencing. Murray pleaded guilty in January 2009 for his role in the scheme and wassentenced in December 2009 to 57 months in prison. Birjas pleaded guilty in September 2010 andhe is awaiting sentencing.
Thecase is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Peter C. Sprung, Eric G. Olshan,Timothy J. Kelly and Edward J. Loya Jr. of the Criminal Division’s PublicIntegrity Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew R. Cogar of the U.S.Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia. The case is being investigated by specialagents of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Army CriminalInvestigation Command Division, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation,the FBI and SIGIR.
Philadelphia Police Officer Ricardo Gonzalez has been arrested - accused of a domestic violence assault on his wife after the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and Internal Affairs Bureau conducted an investigation. Gonzalez is charged with simple assault, TERRORISTIC THREATS and "related offenses" (???).
TRIAL IN PROGRESS:
Clifton New Jersey Police Officer Richard Klementovich has been charged with 85 counts of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, assault on police officers, and possessing an instrument of crime.
