Larayne Whitehead, Government Contract Fraud, Maryland 2013

Greenbelt, Maryland Woman Pleads Guilty To $2.3 Million Government Contract Fraud Scheme

Larayne Whitehead, 34, of Clinton, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to commit wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud businesses which supplied goods under government contracts.

The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

According to her plea agreement, from December 2007 to May 2013, Whitehead and her co-conspirators used at least 15 businesses in Maryland, Delaware, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and Tennessee which they incorporated to bid on contracts to provide goods – such as books, snowmobiles, plants and paint – to federal, state and local government agencies. Most of the contracts were awarded using an online marketplace, which contractors use to compete for federal contracts through a reverse auction process. The conspirators’ businesses often submitted extremely low bids to secure the contracts.

Whitehead faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Her sentencing is scheduled for January 14, 2014 at 12:00 p.m.

Whitehead has agreed to forfeit $2,393,579 and a car.

The National Procurement Fraud Task Force was formed in October 2006 to promote the early detection, identification, prevention and prosecution of procurement fraud associated with the increase in government contracting activity for national security and other government programs.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the FBI for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Christen A. Sproule, who is prosecuting the case.

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