Dumitru Martin, Bribery of a Public Official, California 2023

Four Romanian Nationals Charged in Bribery Scheme

In a shocking turn of events, four Romanian nationals, including Dumitru Martin, have been charged with bribery and conspiracy in a shocking scheme to bribe a United States Air Force contracting officer.

A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Dumitru Martin, 55, a Romanian citizen residing in Long Island, New York, and Anamaria Cruceru, 48; Constantin Schiller, 62; and Marcelle Banaga, 40, all of whom reside in Romania. The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to bribe the contracting officer with a 10 percent commission on multimillion-dollar contracts awarded to Polaris M. Holdings, a company owned by Martin.

The scheme allegedly began in October 2014 and continued until December 2015. During this time, the defendants offered to pay the contracting officer a bribe, which they called a “commission,” equal to 10 percent of the amount of the contract. They also suggested that the contracting officer use fictitious consulting contracts and other commercial contracts to conceal payment of the bribe.

In July 2015, the defendants caused Polaris to submit a bid to the USAF to supply storage containers to the Mihail Koglaniceanu Air Base in Romania. In September 2015, Martin traveled to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California to sign the documents relating to the bid and the fictitious contracts. The defendants then caused a $100,000 wire transfer from Romania to a bank account in the United States as payment to the USAF contracting officer. Unbeknownst to the defendants, the contracting officer was working with federal law enforcement and there was no contract to be awarded to Polaris.

The case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Beckwith and Todd Pickles are prosecuting the case.

Martin was arrested and is currently in custody in Sacramento. The remaining defendants reside in Romania, and the U.S. government will initiate requests for their extradition.

If convicted, the defendants each face a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy charges and 15 years in prison for the bribery count, as well as a $250,000 fine.

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