John W. Warwick, Maritime Contract Bribery, Virginia 2009

Bribery Scheme Exposed: Virginia Resident Pleads Guilty

In a shocking turn of events, John W. Warwick, a 64-year-old Virginia Beach resident, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to pay bribes to former Panamanian government officials in connection with a maritime contract.

According to court documents, Warwick and co-conspirator Charles Jumet participated in a conspiracy to pay money secretly to Panamanian government officials for awarding contracts to Ports Engineering Consultants Corporation (PECC) to maintain lighthouses and buoys along Panama’s waterway.

The Panamanian government awarded PECC a no-bid 20-year concession to perform these duties in December 1997. Upon receipt of the concession, Warwick, Jumet, and others authorized corrupt payments to be made to the Panamanian government officials.

Warwick admitted that at least from 1997 through approximately July 2003, he, Jumet, and others conspired to make corrupt payments totaling more than $200,000 to the former administrator and deputy administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority and to a former, high-ranking elected executive official of the Republic of Panama.

As part of his plea agreement, Warwick has agreed to forfeit $331,000, which represents the proceeds of this crime. At sentencing, scheduled for May 14, 2010, Warwick faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss.

Co-conspirator Charles Jumet pleaded guilty on November 13, 2009 to a two-count criminal information charging him with conspiring to make corrupt payments to foreign government officials for the purpose of securing business for PECC, in violation of the FCPA, and making a false statement.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Rina Tucker Harris of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Dry of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. The case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington and Richmond Field Offices, as well as by ICE.

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