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Ex-US Army Major Sentenced for Bribery and Conspiracy
A former U.S. Army Reserve Major has been sentenced to serve 70 months in prison and to pay $825,000 in restitution to the United States after pleading guilty to conspiracy and bribery charges involving U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contracts at Camp Victory, Iraq.
Theresa Jeanne Baker pleaded guilty to the charges on December 22, 2008. According to the charging document, Baker participated in two separate conspiracies. In the first conspiracy, Baker received money and other items from Elie Samir Chidiac and Raman International Inc., which does business as Raman Corporation.
In return, Baker conveyed sensitive information and fraudulently awarded military contracts to Raman. Upon performance of these contracts, Chidiac received payment from the DOD on Raman’s behalf and kicked back a portion of that profit to Baker. In the second conspiracy, Baker canceled military contracts for various telecommunications items that were awarded to third-party contractors and fraudulently re-awarded them to Chidiac.
Baker then authorized Chidiac to receive cash payments for those contracts, despite the fact that Chidiac neither delivered any goods nor performed any services. In return, Chidiac gave a portion of the money back to Baker.
Charges remain pending against Chidiac, who is currently a fugitive. Raman was charged in the same indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and pleaded guilty to the charges on June 3, 2008. Raman was sentenced to pay a $500,000 criminal fine on January 30, 2009.
The ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s National Criminal Enforcement Section (NCES), along with Special Agents from the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Tulsa Resident Agency and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (Army CID), Dallas Resident Agency.
The case is an example of the government’s commitment to protect U.S. taxpayers from procurement fraud through the National Procurement Fraud Task Force. Anyone with information concerning bid rigging, bribery, or other criminal conduct in the procurement of goods or services in Iraq is urged to contact the NCES at 202-307-6694; DCIS at 800-424-9098 or hotline@dodig.mil; or Army CID at www.cid.army.mil.
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Public Corruption|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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