Military Contractor Faces Jail Time For Fraud

The president and owner of Jacobi Industries Inc., a Medford, N.Y. company, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to rig bids on U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contracts for military tie-down equipment and cargo securing systems, the U.S. Department of Justice says.

Jacobi Industries provided military tie-down equipment and cargo securing systems to DOD. These products are used to secure vehicles, aircraft, munitions, shipping containers and other
specialized military cargo requirements for land, sea, and air transportation.

Roger Jacobi pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Islip, N.Y., to a felony charge of bid rigging. Under the plea agreement, Jacobi has agreed to pay a criminal fine of $20,000, and to cooperate with the Justice Department's ongoing investigation. Jacobi could also serve up to six
months in prison. The terms of the plea agreement are subject to court approval.

Jacobi participated in the bid-rigging conspiracy from November 2001 to January 2005, during which time he and co-conspirators discussed and agreed among themselves not to compete by agreeing not to submit prices or bids against each other on certain contracts.

"Today's charges demonstrate our ongoing commitment to prosecute those who deprive the U.S. military of the benefits of competitive bidding on taxpayer funded contracts," says Thomas Barnett, assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.

Jacobi is charged with carrying out the conspiracy with co-conspirators by:

-- Attending meetings and engaging in discussions regarding the sale of
military tie-down equipment and cargo securing systems;
-- Agreeing during those meetings and discussions not to compete on
certain contracts with the DOD by not submitting prices or bids on those
contracts;
-- Submitting bids in accordance with the agreements reached;
-- Selling military tie-down equipment and cargo securing systems to
the DOD under those agreements at collusive and non-competitive prices; and
-- Accepting payment for military tie-down equipment and cargo securing
systems sold at the collusive and non-competitive prices.

Jacobi is charged with bid rigging in violation of the Sherman Act, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years of imprisonment, and a fine of $1 million for individuals and $100 million for corporations. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

The charge against Jacobi represents the fourth case to arise from an ongoing investigation into the military restraints industry, the Justice Department says.

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Two Indicted, Arrested for Supplying Indian Government With Controlled Technology

A South Carolina man andwoman have been indicted and arrested on charges of supplying the government of India with controlled technology without the required licenses, says Kenneth Wainstein, assistant attorney general for the National Security Division of the U.S. Justice Department.

Parthasarathy Sudarshan, 46 and Mythili Gopal, 36, both of Simpsonville, S.C., were arrested on Friday, March 23, and had their initial appearances in the U.S. District Court in Greenville, S.C.

Sudarshan had his first court appearance in the District of Columbia as he was arraigned on the charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina, who has scheduled a status hearing for April 17, for both Sudarshan and Gopal.

The arrests were the result of a joint investigation by the FBI, the US Department of Commerce, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A 15-count indictment, which was returned by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia and unsealed on March 23, charges the defendants with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Arms Export Control Act and with acting as illegal agents of a foreign government. The indictment also charges AKN Prasad of Bangalore, India, and Sampath Sundar, 47, of Singapore, for their roles in the offenses, the Justice Department says.

If convicted of the charges, Sudarshan faces a likely sentencing guideline range of 97-121 months in prison, while Gopal faces a likely sentencing guideline range of 63-78 months. Prasad and Sundar face likely sentencing guideline ranges of 78-97 months, if convicted of the charges, the Justice Department says.

"These arrests put a network of technology smugglers out of business and demonstrate that we have no tolerance for weapons proliferators who illegally supply entities with weapons technology that has applications in the development of aircraft, missile and aerospace systems," says Wainstein.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a criminal violation. All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.


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Alabama Woman Sentenced to More Than Six Years in Prison for Katrina Fraud

Lawanda T. Williams, also known as Lawanda Johnson, was sentenced to more than six years in prison for defrauding the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of more than $267,000 and for aggravated identity theft following Hurricane Katrina, U.S. Attorney Deborah Rhodes of the Southern District of Alabama announced.

Williams was sentenced to 75 months in prison, and was ordered to pay full restitution to FEMA in the amount of $267,377. In addition, Williams was ordered to forfeit all of the property she purchased with the proceeds of her Katrina fraud, including four automobiles, real estate, televisions and other electronics.

Williams pled guilty in September 2006 to making false claims to the government, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with 28 fraudulent claims for disaster assistance she made to FEMA after Hurricane Katrina. Williams admitted that her residence in Jackson, Ala. was not damaged by the hurricane and that she filed 28 fraudulent claims for Katrina assistance, falsely claiming to have lived at various addresses in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida. In those applications, Williams admitted using Social Security numbers of other people and providing FEMA with fraudulent and fictitious documents that purported to prove her ownership of property she did not own.

"Ms. Williams used Hurricane Katrina and the relief efforts as an opportunity to make hundreds of thousands of dollars by lying and by stealing other people's identities," says Rhodes. "The Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force is actively working to bring to justice those who took advantage of the recovery efforts to enrich themselves."

Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. It made landfall along the Gulf Coast in late August 2005, laying waste to New Orleans and the surrounding region. The government response, particularly from FEMA, was widely criticized.

In September 2005, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales created the national Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force, designed to deter, investigate and prosecute disaster-related federal crimes such as charity fraud, identity theft, procurement fraud and insurance fraud. The Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force, chaired by Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Alice Fisher, includes members from the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the Postal Inspector's Office and the Executive Office of United States Attorneys, among others.

The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, Office of the Inspector General, the FBI, and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Costello.


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