Virginia-based defense contractor pleads guilty to bribery conspiracy involving government contracts worth more than $100 million
IRS Criminal Investigation
SAN DIEGO — Cambridge International Systems, Inc., a defense contractor headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that it participated in a bribery scheme with the company’s former Executive Vice President Russell Thurston, and former Naval Information Warfare Center employee James Soriano, among others.
According to Cambridge’s plea agreement, the company — acting through Thurston and an unnamed employee — gave various things of value to Soriano, including jobs for Soriano’s family and friends, meals, and a ticket to the 2018 MLB All Star Game held at Nationals Park in Washington D.C. One of the friends hired by Cambridge, Liberty Gutierrez, was giving Soriano $2,000 a month from her Cambridge salary, according to Gutierrez’s plea agreement.
Romania: EPPO conducts searches in investigation into €1.7 million fraud involving irrigation systems
European Public Prosecutor's Office
(Luxembourg, 17 April 2024) – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Iași (Romania) conducted eight searches today in the Galați county, in an investigation into a €1.7 million fraud involving projects for irrigation systems, funded by the EU.At issue is an agricultural cooperative which obtained funding for two projects to modernise irrigation systems, worth €1.7 million (RON 8.6 million). However, according to the investigation, the public procurement procedure to select a company to execute the projects was manipulated, in order to benefit a pre-determined company, owned by the mother of one of the members of the cooperative.
Publication of Final Rule to Remove the Zimbabwe Sanctions Regulations
OFAC
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is issuing a final rule to remove the Zimbabwe Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 541, from the Code of Federal Regulations. OFAC is taking this action because the national emergency on which part 541 was based was terminated by the President on March 4, 2024. The rule is currently available for public inspection with the Federal Register and will take effect upon publication in the Federal Register on April 17, 2024.