Sandia National Laboratories | The Contracting Education Academy

December 14, 2017 By AMK

Former contracting officer at nuclear R&D facility pleads guilty to wire fraud and money laundering

A former procurement officer employed at Sandia Corporation, the prime operator of a federally funded nuclear research and development facility, pleaded guilty Dec. 5th to charges of wire fraud and money laundering for orchestrating a scheme to obtain approximately $2.3 million in federal funds through fraudulent means and for laundering fraudulently obtained proceeds through her father’s companies.

Carla Sena, 55, of Santa Rosa, New Mexico, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in the U.S. District Court of New Mexico. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.

According to the plea documents, Sena’s employer, Sandia Corporation, managed and operated Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), a nuclear research and development facility owned by the federal government under sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

In late 2010, Sena managed the bidding process for the award of a multi-million-dollar contract for moving services at SNL.
Sena admitted that, in anticipation of the bidding process for this contract, she created the company, New Mexico Express Movers LLC (Movers LLC), to which she awarded the multi-million-dollar contract.
Sena prepared a bid on Movers LLC’s behalf containing fraudulent misrepresentations, and submitted the bid under the name of an individual who had no knowledge of Movers LLC to conceal her involvement.
Sena also admitted that she used her position of trust to access inside information and competing bidders’ documents that she leveraged to ensure award of the contract to Movers LLC.
As a direct result of Sena’s fraudulent scheme, Movers LLC received approximately $2.3 million in federal funds between May 2011 and April 2016.
Sena also admitted that, between October 2011 and April 2015, she transferred via negotiated checks at least $643,000 of the fraudulently obtained proceeds to legitimate businesses owned by her father with the intent to conceal the source and control of those funds and her subsequent personal gain from the proceeds.

The DOE Office of Inspector General investigated the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-procurement-officer-federally-funded-nuclear-research-and-development-facility-pleads

November 28, 2017 By AMK

Former procurement officer indicted on wire fraud and money laundering charges

A federal grand jury sitting in the District of New Mexico returned an 11-count indictment against a former procurement officer employed at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), a nuclear research and development facility of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), for orchestrating a scheme to obtain a $2.3 million contract through fraudulent means.

Carla Sena, 55, of Albuquerque, New Mexico was charged with three counts of wire fraud, one count of major fraud against the United States and seven counts of money laundering.

According to the indictment, SNL was managed and operated by Sandia Corporation (Sandia) during the relevant time period. In late 2010, Sena was assigned by Sandia to manage the bidding process for the award of a contract for moving services at SNL. In anticipation thereof, Sena created New Mexico Express Movers LLC (Movers LLC), prepared a bid on Movers LLC’s behalf, and submitted the bid to Sandia under someone else’s name to conceal her involvement. Sena made several material and fraudulent misrepresentations in Movers LLC’s bid that would have resulted in disqualification, but she used her position at SNL to ensure that these misrepresentations went undetected. Sena also used her position to access other bidders’ documents and information that she in turn leveraged to ensure award of the contract to Movers LLC. As a direct result of Sena’s scheme to defraud, Movers LLC received approximately $2.3 million in DOE funds. The indictment further alleges that, between December 2011 and April 2015, Sena transferred via negotiated checks at least $643,000 of these fraudulently obtained proceeds to legitimate businesses owned by her father with the intent to conceal her subsequent use of the proceeds for personal gain.

The indictment is the result of an ongoing investigation by the DOE Office of Inspector General and is being prosecuted by the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-procurement-officer-federally-funded-nuclear-research-and-development-facility

August 31, 2015 By AMK

Lockheed pays $4.8M to settle illegal lobbying claim

Sandia Corp. and parent company Lockheed Martin, which operate the federally-funded Sandia National Laboratories, agreed to pay $4.8 million to settle claims that the company used taxpayer money to lobby congress to extend its contract to manage the research facility in violation of federal law.

The Department of Justice opened an investigation earlier this year after an inspector general report showed the company used federal funds to stand up an in-house lobbying team to develop a strategy to extend the management contract for the facility at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico, after it was set to expire in 2012.

Documents obtained by the IG revealed a strategy to influence congressmen and federal officials — including then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu. While these lobbying efforts were not explicitly illegal, laws and regulations prohibit the use of federal funds for such purposes.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/management/oversight/2015/08/24/lockheed-sandia-lobbying/32262165/

Read in-depth information at: http://archive.federaltimes.com/article/20141112/ACQ/311120012/Report-Sandia-violated-rules-lobbying-contract-extensions

Sandia Corp. and parent company Lockheed Martin, which operate the federally-funded Sandia National Laboratories, agreed to pay $4.8 million to settle claims that the company used taxpayer money to lobby congress to extend its contract to manage the research facility in violation of federal law.

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