wire fraud | The Contracting Education Academy

September 17, 2018 By AMK

Men indicted for providing falsely-labeled body armor

Two Florida executives made their initial appearance in federal court on Sept. 7, 2018 on charges related to falsely-labeled hard body armor plates they provided to the United States government.

According to allegations in the indictment, Dan Thomas Lounsbury, Jr., of South Palm Beach, is the founder, sole owner, and CEO of Tactical Products Group, LLC (TPG), a Florida-based manufacturer and re-seller of various products to military, law enforcement, and private security clients. Andres Lopez-Munoz, 34, of Boynton Beach, is TPG’s Vice President for Sales and Federal Contracting.

In 2012, TPG was selected as a sub-contractor on a contract to provide certain goods, including ten sets of hard body armor plates, to the United States government.

The government had requested a specific type of plate, and Lounsbury and Lopez-Munoz both knew that no substitutions were allowed.
Furthermore, Lounsbury and Lopez-Munoz both knew that these plates would be used to protect government personnel. The consequence of a failure of body armor is death or serious bodily injury.
Nevertheless, Lounsbury and Lopez-Munoz worked together to procure cheaper substitute plates, and then to put fraudulent labels on these substitute plates falsely stating that they were the type of plates that the government had required.
Some of these cheaper substitute plates were far outside their warranty period, were not as protective as the false labels claimed, and had the potential to “delaminate,” meaning that the adhesive binding the layers of the body armor plate could fail, under certain conditions.

Lounsbury and Lopez-Munoz are both charged with conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims and wire fraud. Lounsbury is additionally charged with false, fictitious, or fraudulent claims. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Readers are reminded that an indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/men-indicted-providing-falsely-labeled-body-armor

July 17, 2018 By AMK

Former COR and a contractor at Eglin Air Force Base plead guilty to conspiracy and bribery

Jerry T. Vertefeuille and Christopher A. Carter, both Florida residents, have pled guilty to conspiracy to commit theft of honest services and wire fraud as well as bribery of a public official.

Vertefeuille also pleaded guilty to obtaining and disclosing procurement information.

The guilty pleas were announced on July 13, 2018 by Christopher P. Canova, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Vertefeuille was a federal government contracting officer representative (COR) for the 96 Test Wing Maintenance Group (96 MXG) at Eglin Air Force Base. His duties included overseeing maintenance work and initially approving purchases and invoices.

In 2007, Vertefeuille helped Carter, as the owner of TCC Services, Unlimited, LLC, win a paint booth maintenance contract, as well as multiple contract renewals, until 2014. Vertefeuille received kickbacks in exchange for approving Carter’s fraudulent invoices and recommending the renewal of TCC’s contract. An investigation later revealed that TCC and another contractor submitted invoices for payment to the U.S. Air Force for the same work.

For the conspiracy charge, the defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison. For bribery of a public official, they face a maximum of 15 years in prison. For obtaining and disclosing procurement information, Vertefeuille also faces a maximum of 5 years in prison. The sentencing hearings are scheduled for September 26 at the U.S. Courthouse in Pensacola.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Air Force Audit Agency, and Defense Criminal Investigative Service. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey M. Tharp.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/business-owner-and-former-government-contracting-officer-representative-plead-guilty

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

June 20, 2016 By AMK

Former GSA official and husband indicted in $1.3 million government contracting scheme

Prosecutors said the $1.3 million federal government contracting scheme was a family affair.

A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted a former General Services Administration (GSA) official and her husband on charges of conspiring to skirt contracting rules to hire family members and the relative of another employee.

Prosecutors said Helen “Renee” Ballard, a former GSA contracting office director, and her husband, a former employee of the Arlington, Virginia-based federal contractor, CACI Inc., used their positions to place relatives on a contract that Ballard supervised.

The couple, who live in Brandywine, Maryland, were indicted on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and false statements.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/maryland-couple-indicted-in-13-million-government-contracting-scheme/2016/06/14/e18b475e-3278-11e6-95c0-2a6873031302_story.html

See Justice Department press release at: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/former-director-general-services-administration-division-and-husband-indicted-fraud-and

January 5, 2016 By AMK

State Department employee indicted in $2 million contract conspiracy

Kenneth Apple, 65, of Beaverton, Oregon, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to his role in awarding $2 million in micro-dairy contracts from the U.S. government for use in Iraq.

According to the indictment, Apple, a former employee with the U.S. Department of State, helped to steer the sole-sourcing of $2 million in micro-dairy contracts to a company in which his son, Jonathan Apple, owned a 50 percent interest. However, Jonathan Apple and his partner had no technical experience in the industry. Kenneth Apple conspired to use his official position to pass on non-public information to his son in order to fraudulently award and administer government contracts. The conspirators further provided false information to, and concealed material details from the U.S. government.

According to the indictment, Kenneth Apple provided templates and technical specifications used in the proposal submitted by Jonathan Apple and his partner to the U.S. government. In addition, Kenneth Apple caused false and misleading statements to be made to the U.S. government regarding his experience, ownership interest, and the status of the projects. For example, Kenneth Apple directed a conspirator to keep Jonathan Apple’s name off the company’s website and any ownership documents. When federal law enforcement agents confronted Kenneth Apple about the scheme, he made false statements, including that he could not recall the owner of the company that won the micro-dairy contracts and that he did not receive any money from the contracts.

Kenneth Apple faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted of wire fraud or obstruction of an official proceeding, and five years in prison if convicted of conspiracy or false statements. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

A copy of the press release regarding this indictment may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:15-cr-363.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

Two Florida executives made their initial appearance in federal court on Sept. 7, 2018 on charges related to falsely-labeled hard body armor plates they provided to the United States government.

Jerry T. Vertefeuille and Christopher A. Carter, both Florida residents, have pled guilty to conspiracy to commit theft of honest services and wire fraud as well as bribery of a public official.

Prosecutors said the $1.3 million federal government contracting scheme was a family affair.

Kenneth Apple, 65, of Beaverton, Oregon, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to his role in awarding $2 million in micro-dairy contracts from the U.S. government for use in Iraq.

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