Dumitru Martin, Bribery, California 2017

Bribery Scheme Unravels: Romanian Business Owner Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In a shocking turn of events, U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley sentenced Dumitru Martin, 55, of Romania, to 13 years in prison for conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery of a public official, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

The brazen scheme involved Martin, who owned and operated a Romanian company called Polaris M. Holdings, and his co-conspirators, Anamaria Cruceru, 49; Constantin Schiller, 63; and Marcelle Banaga, 41, all of Romania. The group conspired to bribe a high-level United States Air Force (USAF) contracting officer in an effort to win multiple multimillion-dollar contracts for Polaris.

Between June 2014 and December 2015, the defendants offered to pay the contracting officer a bribe, which they called a “commission,” equal to 10 percent of the amount of any contract awarded. The defendants also suggested that the contracting officer use a fictitious consulting contract and other commercial contracts and documents to conceal payment of the bribe.

The scheme went awry in September 2015, when Martin traveled to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California to sign the documents relating to the bid as well as the fictitious contracts meant to conceal various bribe payments totaling just over $1 million. Unbeknownst to the defendants, the USAF contracting officer was working with federal law enforcement, and there was no contract to be awarded to Polaris.

U.S. Attorney Talbert said, “The Eastern District of California has many military and other government facilities that obligate taxpayer money in the course of negotiating high-dollar contracts. The sentence imposed today acknowledges the importance of rooting out corruption and protecting the integrity of the contracting process. My office is committed to investigating and prosecuting those who attempt to bribe public officials or who engage in other acts of public corruption that undermine the public’s confidence in the integrity of the government.”

Judge Nunley added, “bribery is not a victimless crime.” He noted that bribery creates a “pay-to-play environment” in which people feel “they can’t participate if they do it the right way.”

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