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FORMER ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY TO ACCEPTING BRIBES FROM IRAQI CONTRACTORS
US Fed News
September 19, 2011 Monday 10:52 AM EST
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- The U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal
Division issued the following news release:
A former employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stationed in
Baghdad, Iraq, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to receive bribes
from Iraqi contractors involved in the U.S.-funded reconstruction
efforts, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the
Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride
for the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director in Charge
James W. McJunkin of the FBI's Washington Field Office.
Thomas Aram Manok, 50, of Chantilly, Va., pleaded guilty before
U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in the Eastern District of
Virginia.
Sentencing has been scheduled for Dec. 9, 2011. Manok faces a maximum
penalty of five years in prison.
According to court documents, Manok admitted to using his official
position to conspire with Iraqi contractors to accept cash bribes in
exchange for recommending that the Army Corps of Engineers approve
contracts and other requests for payment submitted by the contractors
to the U.S. government. According to court documents, in March and
April 2010, Manok agreed to receive a $10,000 payment from one such
contractor who had been involved in constructing a kindergarten and
girls' school in the Abu Ghraib neighborhood of Baghdad and had sought
Manok's influence in having requests for payment approved by the Corps
of Engineers. According to court documents, Manok was to receive an
additional bribe payment from the contractor once the contractor's
claim had been approved. Manok also admitted that he intended to
conceal the payments from authorities by transferring them, via
associates, from Iraq to Armenia.
This case was investigated by the FBI's Washington Field Office,
the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General, the Army
Criminal Investigation Command and the Defense Criminal Investigative
Service, as participants in the International Contract Corruption Task
Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J.
Nathanson of the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Mary
Ann McCarthy of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
US Fed News
September 19, 2011 Monday 10:52 AM EST
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19 -- The U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal
Division issued the following news release:
A former employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers stationed in
Baghdad, Iraq, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to receive bribes
from Iraqi contractors involved in the U.S.-funded reconstruction
efforts, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the
Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride
for the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director in Charge
James W. McJunkin of the FBI's Washington Field Office.
Thomas Aram Manok, 50, of Chantilly, Va., pleaded guilty before
U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga in the Eastern District of
Virginia.
Sentencing has been scheduled for Dec. 9, 2011. Manok faces a maximum
penalty of five years in prison.
According to court documents, Manok admitted to using his official
position to conspire with Iraqi contractors to accept cash bribes in
exchange for recommending that the Army Corps of Engineers approve
contracts and other requests for payment submitted by the contractors
to the U.S. government. According to court documents, in March and
April 2010, Manok agreed to receive a $10,000 payment from one such
contractor who had been involved in constructing a kindergarten and
girls' school in the Abu Ghraib neighborhood of Baghdad and had sought
Manok's influence in having requests for payment approved by the Corps
of Engineers. According to court documents, Manok was to receive an
additional bribe payment from the contractor once the contractor's
claim had been approved. Manok also admitted that he intended to
conceal the payments from authorities by transferring them, via
associates, from Iraq to Armenia.
This case was investigated by the FBI's Washington Field Office,
the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General, the Army
Criminal Investigation Command and the Defense Criminal Investigative
Service, as participants in the International Contract Corruption Task
Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J.
Nathanson of the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Mary
Ann McCarthy of the Criminal Division's Fraud Section.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress