Emil Popescu Sentenced in $3.4M State Dept Kickback Scheme

A Romanian national has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for his role in a multi-million-dollar kickback scheme that bled $3.4 million from U.S. State Department funds during operations in Iraq. Emil Popescu, 49, was sentenced in Alexandria, Virginia, after being found guilty of conspiring to violate the Anti-Kickback Act in connection with a 2011 real estate lease deal.

According to court records and trial evidence, Popescu served as Director of Operations for an Iraqi company that entered into a lease agreement with a Virginia-based U.S. government contractor performing services for the State Department. Popescu, recruited into the conspiracy by fellow contractors Wesley Aaron Struble, 49, of Batangas, Philippines, and Jose Rivera, 57, of Potomac, Maryland, used his position to negotiate the lease while ensuring illicit payouts flowed to the conspirators.

After the lease was executed, Popescu opened a bank account in Baghdad in his own name and withdrew cash to deliver kickbacks directly to Struble and Rivera. He also facilitated additional payments by handing over funds to the Iraqi company’s associates with full knowledge that portions would be funneled to the American contractors as bribes. The scheme was designed to inflate lease costs and siphon taxpayer dollars under the guise of legitimate business operations.

Popescu’s co-conspirators had already faced justice before his trial. Struble pleaded guilty to the same conspiracy and was sentenced to four years in prison. Rivera also pleaded guilty and received a three-year sentence. Both men cooperated with federal investigators, shedding light on the inner workings of the fraud that undermined U.S. diplomatic operations in a war zone.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian D. Harrison and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly R. Pedersen. Tracy Doherty-McCormick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announced the sentencing alongside Steve A. Linick, Inspector General for the U.S. Department of State, and Andrew W. Vale, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Washington Field Office. U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema handed down the sentence.

Court documents and related information are available through the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, as well as the District Court’s public records system and PACER under Case Nos. 1:17-cr-44 and 1:17-cr-052. The prosecution underscores ongoing federal scrutiny of corruption tied to overseas government contracts.

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