Rainier Ramos, Bribery, Maryland 2017

Bribery Scandal Rocks Aberdeen Proving Ground

Rainier Ramos, a 50-year-old civilian employee at Aberdeen Proving Ground, pleaded guilty today to bribery in connection with his duties at the U.S. Army Public Health Command.

According to Ramos’ plea agreement, he solicited and accepted bribes from the owner and CEO of an information technology company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, beginning in 2009. The bribes included meals, drinks, rounds of golf, tickets to sporting events, and gift cards, with the sporting events including courtside seats to Washington Wizards basketball games, football tickets and access to the company’s luxury suite for Washington Redskins games at FedEx field, tickets to see the New Orleans Saints play at the Mercedes Benz Dome in New Orleans, and tickets to see the New Orleans Hornets basketball team in New Orleans.

In exchange for the bribes, Ramos took official actions favorable to the company and its owner in relation to the MEDCOM contract, which was worth more than $50 million. He influenced the award of a contract to the company to deploy and configure 70 desktop and laptop computers at APG, recommended that the MEDCOM contract be reserved for companies that were part of the U.S. Small Business Administration 8(a) program, provided the owner of the company with the winning proposal of the previous contractor on the MEDCOM contract, including pricing data, and helped write the Statement of Work for the MEDCOM contract to increase the likelihood that the company would be awarded that contract.

Ramos faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for bribery and is required to pay a money judgment of at least $33,000 and pay restitution in the full amount of the victim’s losses. U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett has scheduled Ramos’ sentencing for July 12, 2017 at 2:00 p.m.

The case was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein, Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office, Special Agent in Charge L. Scott Moreland, Mid-Atlantic Fraud Field Office, Major Procurement Fraud Unit, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, and Special Agent in Charge Robert E. Craig, Jr. of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service – Mid-Atlantic Field Office.

Ramos’ guilty plea is a significant blow to the integrity of the procurement process at Aberdeen Proving Ground and highlights the importance of vigilance in detecting and preventing bribery and corruption in government contracting.

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