San Diego Naval Center Employee Allegedly Involved In $100 Million Bribery Scheme

The US Justice Department has supposedly charged a US Navy contracting officer and a software executive with bribery in connection with a plan to steer deals to a certain firm. James Soriano, 63, was employed as a civilian engineer and project leader at the Naval Information Warfare Center in San Diego.

As stated by prosecutors, he did not comply with his job as a neutral arbiter. He began to shift the scales in favour of Russell Thurston, 51, the then-executive of a defence technology company with headquarters on the East Coast. Per the indictment, Thurston, as well as their subordinates, gave things of value to Soriano, like free meals and jobs to Soriano’s friends and loved ones.

The prosecutors have alleged that one of the friends is understood to have held on to her job without doing responsibilities and has given half of her salary to Soriano as a monthly cash payment. This amounted to nearly $2,000 a month. Per charging documents, Soriano permitted Thurston to draft procurement documents for contract tenders.

In this way, Thurston’s firm won a major deal worth up to almost $300 million, and Soriano approved nearly $100 million worth of work under the terms of the deal.

Both men have been charged with bribery. According to the prosecutors, Soriano was additionally charged with three counts of false tax returns because he had not mentioned the illicit cash he was receiving from his friend as a source of income.

According to Weston King, the Small Business Administration’s Western Region Special Agent In Charge, using a position of public trust to illegally offer access to federal initiatives for personal gain will never be permitted.

Reference: justice.gov

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