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Former Philadelphia Executive Sentenced for Bribing Vietnamese Officials
In a shocking turn of events, Joseph T. Lukas, a former executive of Philadelphia-based Nexus Technologies Inc., pleaded guilty to paying bribes to Vietnamese government officials in exchange for lucrative contracts.
Lukas, 60, a resident of New Jersey, was a partner in Nexus Technologies Inc. until 2005. According to court documents, Nexus Technologies Inc. was a privately owned export company that identified U.S. vendors for contracts opened for bid by the Vietnamese government to purchase a wide variety of equipment and technology.
In connection with his guilty plea, Lukas admitted that from 1999 to 2005, he and other employees of Nexus Technologies Inc. agreed to pay, and knowingly paid, bribes to Vietnamese government officials in exchange for contracts with the agencies for which the officials worked. The bribes were falsely described as ‘commissions’ in the company’s records.
Lukas was arrested on September 5, 2008 after being indicted by a federal grand jury in Philadelphia on one count of conspiracy to bribe Vietnamese public officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and one substantive count of violating the FCPA.
At sentencing, scheduled for April 6, 2010, Lukas faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Trial Attorney Kathleen M. Hamann of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement.
Nexus Technologies Inc. and alleged co-conspirators Nam Nguyen, Kim Nguyen, and An Nguyen are still awaiting trial.
Key Facts
- State: New Jersey
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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