Guilty Plea in Army Contracts case.

In a statement released this morning, March 20, 2009, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Carolyn Blake, of Sunnyvale, Texas, pleaded guilty to money laundering in connection with a scheme that is related to bribes paid to army contractors involved in providing goods and services in support of the Iraq war.

Ms. Blake is the sister of Army Major John Cockerham, who pleaded guilty in January 2008 to participating in a complex bribery and money laundering scheme while working as an Army contracting officer in Kuwait. Cockerham admitted to receiving more than $9 million in bribe proceeds of which $3 million was apparently laundered by Ms. Blake.

This represents the third guilty plea the DOJ has announced with regard to the case. The additional person involved and identified to date is Cockerham’s wife Melissa. The announcement by the DOJ also indicated that “others” are involved but no additional information about the ongoing investigation was offered. Also, the name of the contractors which were responsible for paying the bribes to Major Cockerham were not released nor was there any specific indication of products and services other than indicating more than one was involved “…including bottled water.” “By accepting bribe proceeds, Carolyn Blake aided a scheme that steered contracts to those willing to make illegal payments for contracts,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Rita M. Glavin.”

Congressional critics have not been shy in accusing the managers of the U. S. military support activities of wasting enormous amounts of tax payer dollars during the Iraq war and this accusation does not seem to have been lost on the DOJ’s Antitrust Division. “The Antitrust Division is committed to rooting out corruption that threatens the competitive bidding process, particularly where public funds are involved,” said Scott D. Hammond, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Antitrust Division. “Those who scheme to line their pockets with kickbacks made at the expense of the U. S. taxpayer will be vigorously prosecuted.”

The investigation continues and apparently is growing as more and more elements of the investigative arms of the U. S. Government become involved. The DOJ is now indicating that the cases are now being investigated by the Army Criminal Investigations Division, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI, the IRS, SIGIR, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security in support of the Justice Department’s National Procurement Fraud Task Force and the International Contract Corruption Initiative.