Bribery Abroad
This just in from the Department of Justice:
"A U.S. Army Major pleaded guilty today to bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery arising out of his activities as a Contracting Officer in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait in 2005 and 2006, Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division and Matthew Friedrich, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division announced."
The Justice folks said James Momon Jr. accepted some good money -- about $5.8 million -- in returned for awarding contracts to firms supplying bottled water and other stuff to the U.S. bases in Kuwait.
The punishment: Momon must pay back the bribe amounts as restitution. He also faces many years in prison.
Sound familiar?
"Momon took over duties at Camp Arifjan from Major John C. Cockerham, who served as a Contracting Officer in Kuwait in 2004 and 2005. Major Cockerham was arrested on July 22, 2007, for bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy arising out of his activities at Camp Arifjan. Cockerham solicited and received more than $9 million in bribes from DOD contractors in exchange for contracts and BPA calls for bottled water and other goods and services. Cockerham's wife, Melissa Cockerham, and sister, Carolyn Blake, were also charged for their roles in the conspiracy to commit bribery and to launder the funds. John and Melissa Cockerham pleaded guilty on Jan. 31, 2008, and their pleas were unsealed on June 24, 2008 in U.S. District Court in San Antonio, Texas. Carolyn Blake's trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 27, 2008."
Details from Justice here.
By Robert O'Harrow |
August 13, 2008; 5:34 PM ET
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Posted by: LE | August 14, 2008 11:47 AM
I'm still trying to figure out where all those pallets of money went that were transported by U.S. Air Force planes to Iraq during Paul Brenner's tour as emperor of Iraq. Who got all those millions?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Posted by: Doubtom | August 14, 2008 11:59 AM
Good question LE. Who bribed whom. Will the co-conspirators ever be named and brought to trial?
This appears similar to illegal drug deals where the pushers are always sentenced but the main drug dealers are never apprehended.
Posted by: Gary | August 14, 2008 10:48 PM
Perhaps these "independent" salesmen of contracts stepped on some big toes whose ties go all the way to the top. Wouldn't surprise me, like a fight in the playground, no it's mine, no mine. But we surely can't be surprised who gets arrested for "contract" fraud and bribery. Such is America, land of the greed and pillagers.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 15, 2008 1:38 AM
C'mon ... even with the corruption we surely do have, especially around DOD contracts, the US hardly has a monopoly, or even a tradition, of bribery. But in the Middle East, baksheesh is the way of the world - in fact, its payment is often expected by police in lieu of arrest.
On another score: notice the plea agreement's wording "... and without threats, force, intimidation, or coercion of any kind." The US needs to offer this assurance to a US military man, but the US military provides no such protection to those they charge.
Posted by: gbdoc | August 18, 2008 1:44 PM
Who is Momon paying back?
I hope not the crooked suppliers who bribed him in the first place.
He should have to name everyone he dealt with so they can share cells next to him.
Posted by: MIK | August 18, 2008 2:07 PM
i distinctly remember dropping off pallet loads of new iraqi dinars in the great "iraqi currency exchange" of winter, 2004 at sites all over baghdad that were clearly not banks. at one location i remember that we made an iraqi gentleman--apparently a supervisor of an orphanage or day care--fantastically wealthy. we called our higher hq to double-check, but the "targeting cell" at division insisted this was a bank. well, i told our soldiers, this dishdasha-clad iraqi must then be a banker! inshallah!!
Posted by: drew | August 18, 2008 3:44 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Who were Momon's co-conspirators - i.e. the contractor companies that paid the bribes?