2 SOLDIERS GET PRISON TIME FOR BRIBERY SCHEME IN AFGHANISTAN

“WASHINGTON – A former sergeant and a sergeant major in the U.S. Army, who were deployed to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, were sentenced to 51 months and 31 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a bribery scheme involving the award of a Department of Defense (DOD) trucking contract, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced.

Former Sergeant Charles O. Finch, 45, of Milalani, Hawaii, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi in the District of Hawaii to 51 months in prison and three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution to the DOD. Sergeant Major Gary Canteen, 42, of Delaware, was sentenced today by Judge Kobayashi in the District of Hawaii to 31 months in prison and three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Defense.

In August 2011, on the day they were scheduled to begin trial, Finch and Canteen pleaded guilty for their roles in conspiring to receive a $50,000 bribe from a military contractor in return for the award of a DOD trucking contract. Finch pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of bribery and Canteen pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery.

According to court documents, Finch and Canteen were deployed to Bagram Airfield from January 2004 until January 2005. Both served on the Army’s 725th Logistical Task Force. Finch was responsible for coordinating trucking or “line haul” services to ensure the distribution of all goods destined for U.S. and coalition soldiers throughout Afghanistan. Finch served under Canteen’s command. Finch also participated in evaluating, recommending and facilitating the award of line haul contracts to various military contractors.

According to court documents, in advance of the award of line haul contracts in October 2004, Canteen and Finch agreed to accept a $50,000 bribe from military contractors John and Tahir Ramin and their company, AZ Corporation, in return for Finch’s recommendation and facilitation of the award of a line haul contract to AZ.

On Sept. 27, 2004, $50,000 was sent by designees of the Ramins via wire transfer into a bank account in the name of Da Spot Inc., a t-shirt and souvenir shop in Pearl City, Hawaii, owned by Canteen. Upon receipt of the money, on Oct. 12, 2004, Finch authored a memorandum recommending that AZ receive a line haul contract and the contract was awarded to AZ on Oct. 15, 2004. According to contract documents, the Ramins and AZ ultimately were paid nearly $20 million for services invoiced under this contract.

After the money was received into the Da Spot account, Canteen withdrew his portion in cash and transferred the remainder via bank check to Finch.

As part of his plea agreement, Finch admitted that in addition to the $50,000 bribe from the Ramins and AZ, he also accepted at least $150,000 in additional bribe money from the Ramins and other line haul contractors at Bagram Airfield.

Canteen was the 12th defendant sentenced in this investigation. Major Christopher West, who was in charge of base operations at Bagram during the time that Finch and Canteen were deployed there, was sentenced to 60 months in prison for receiving bribes from military contractors. West’s co-defendants, Robert Moore and Patrick Boyd, were sentenced to 15 months and 40 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the bribery scheme. Sergeant Sheryl Ayeni was also sentenced to one year in prison for the receipt of $30,000 in return for her official acts as a vendor pay agent at Bagram during this time. Also arising from this investigation, John Mihalczo was sentenced to 15 months in prison for accepting approximately $115,000 in bribes at Bagram between 2003 and 2004.

These cases are being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Mark W. Pletcher of the Fraud Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The cases were investigated by the Department of the Army, Criminal Investigations Division; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; and the Department of the Air Force, Office of Special Investigations. Assistance was provided by the Office of International Affairs in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.”

THREE INDICTED FOR ALLEGED PROCUREMENT FRAUD INVOLVING FOREIGN MILITARY MATERIALS

The following excerpt is from the Department of Justice website:
Wednesday, October 12, 2011

“WASHINGTON — Three individuals were charged in an indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in Utah for their alleged roles in a bribery and fraud scheme involving federal procurement contracts, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney David B. Barlow for the District of Utah.
The four-count indictment returned today in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City charges Sylvester Zugrav, 68, and Maria Zugrav, 66, both of Sarasota, Fla., and Jose Mendez, 49, of Farr West, Utah, with conspiracy to commit bribery and procurement fraud. The Zugravs and Mendez also are each charged with bribery. In addition, Mendez is charged with procurement fraud.
According to the indictment, Mendez worked as a program manager for the U.S. Air Force Foreign Materials Acquisition Support Office (FMASO). The mission of FMASO is to purchase foreign military materials on behalf of their customers, which are various U.S. military divisions. The materials are acquired outside of the United States by third party companies, or vendors, and then purchased by FMASO on behalf of its customers. There are a limited number of vendors permitted to contract for the sale of foreign materials to FMASO, one of which is Atlas International Trading Corporation (Atlas). According to the indictment, Sylvester and Maria Zugrav were the principals of Atlas.
According to the indictment, the Zugravs and Mendez conspired to enrich one another by exchanging money and other things of value for non-public information and favorable treatment in the procurement process. The Zugravs allegedly offered Mendez approximately $1,240,500 in payments and other things of value throughout the course of the conspiracy. The Zugravs allegedly made bribe payments to Mendez in three different ways: cash payments via FedEx to Mendez’s home address; in-person payments of cash and other things of value; and electronic wire transfers to a bank account in Mexico opened by and in the name of Mendez’s cousin. According to the indictment, from approximately 2008 to August 2011, the Zugravs gave Mendez and a person close to him more than $185,000 in payments and other things of value, with promises of additional bribe payments if Atlas were to receive future contracts for the sale of foreign materials to FMASO customers.
In return for the bribes offered and paid, Mendez allegedly gave Atlas and the Zugravs favorable treatment during the FMASO procurement process, including disclosing government budget and competitor bid information, which helped Atlas and the Zugravs in winning FMASO contracts.
According to the indictment, Mendez and Sylvester Zugrav allegedly communicated offers and requests for bribes in person and through email, and took steps to conceal their activity, using covert email addresses, password-protected computer documents, code words and false names. Within the encrypted documents, Mendez adopted the name “Chuco” and Sylvester Zugrav used the name “Jugo,” and they referred to cash as “literature.”
The Zugravs and Mendez each are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and procurement fraud, and one count of bribery. Mendez is also charged with one count of procurement fraud for disclosing non-public information to a separate FMASO vendor other than Atlas.
The maximum penalty for conspiracy is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for procurement fraud is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while the maximum penalty for bribery is 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or three times the monetary equivalent of the thing of value, whichever is greater. The indictment also seeks forfeiture from all three defendants, if convicted.
An indictment is merely an allegation and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The case is being investigated by the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Office of Special Projects. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Marquest J. Meeks and Edward P. Sullivan of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Carlos A. Esqueda for the District of Utah.”