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Major pleads guilty in bribery scheme

Army Reserve Maj. Theresa Jeanne Baker has pleaded guilty in federal court for her role in two bribery schemes involving Defense Department contracts at Camp Victory, Iraq, the Justice Department announced Dec. 22.

Baker pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City.

As part of the same investigation, Elie Samir Chidiac, a former employee of defense contractor Raman International Inc., which does business as Raman Corporation, was indicted in January 2008 for conspiracy to commit bribery in connection with the same activity. Chidiac is a fugitive, according to the Justice Department, and on June 3 the Cypress, Texas-based Raman Corporation pleaded guilty to an indictment charging the company with conspiracy to commit bribery. The company agreed to pay a $500,000 criminal fine and restitution in the amount of $327,192 to the Defense Department for its role in one of the schemes.

The charging document states that in the first conspiracy Baker received money and other items from Raman and Chidiac, including a new Harley Davidson motorcycle, in return for sensitive information and fraudulently awarding contracts to Raman. Upon the performance of these contracts, Chidiac received payment from the Defense Department on Raman’s behalf and kicked back a portion of that profit to Baker.

In the second conspiracy, Baker canceled contracts that were awarded to third-party contractors and fraudulently re-awarded them to Chidiac. Baker then authorized Chidiac to receive payments for those contracts, totaling more than $700,000, despite the fact that Chidiac had neither delivered any goods nor performed any services, according to the Justice Department. In return, Chidiac gave a portion of the money to Baker, who then sent cash, concealed in packages, through U.S. mail.

Baker was charged with two counts of bribery, with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison for each count and the greater of a $250,000 fine or three times the monetary equivalent of the thing of value. She also was charged with two counts of conspiracy, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count and a $250,000 fine.

This case is part of an ongoing investigation being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s National Criminal Enforcement Section along with special agents from the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and Army Criminal Investigation Command.

Anyone with information about bid rigging, bribery or other criminal conduct in the procurement of goods and services in Iraq is urged to call NCES at (202) 307-6694, DCIS at (800) 424-9098 or hotline@dodig.mil, or Army CID at www.cid.army.mil.