Another Corruption Scandal
More corruption is being reported to be happening on US Army installations in Korea:
A former U.S. Forces Korea civilian employee pleaded guilty last Thursday to conspiring to defraud the United States of more than $300,000, according to a Justice Department news release.
Fidel Diaz, 49, of Visalia, Calif., entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Washington. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a three-year term of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
Diaz was employed by the Defense Department as the chief of the Supply and Storage Division for the U.S. Army, Department of Public Works, USFK.
According to the release, Diaz and co-conspirators defrauded the Army of thousands of dollars between 2002 and 2004 while at Camp Giant.
Diaz admitted to violating DOD contracting rules and falsifying purchasing documents, according to the release. In his guilty plea, he admitted he purchased $309,978.58 in nonexistent electrical transformers from two co-conspirators with his and his subordinates’ government credit cards. In exchange, the release stated, the co-conspirators paid him more than $200,000.
The corruption continues here in Korea after last month’s report on the corruption at Kwangsa-ri:
Local police are seeking a South Korean man who works for the U.S. military in connection with the discovery of about 12 tons of U.S. military shell casings and live ammunition in a commercial warehouse Monday.
Detective Im Il-soon of the South Yangju police station identified the suspect as a 47-year-old man named Kim who works for the 17th Ordnance Company, which operates from the Kwangsa-ri ammunition depot, south of Dongducheon.
Im said three other South Korean men, none of whom work for the U.S. military, are being held in connection with the case.
Then you had executive linked to the corrupt Colonel Moran convicted:
Young Y. Lee, 46, of Rockville, Md., and Lorn J. MacUmber, 67, of Gypsum, Colo., each pleaded guilty Monday to one count of aiding and abetting a conflict of interest. Lee was president and chief executive officer of ISS and MacUmber was a senior vice president, according to federal prosecutors.
The executives also had offered the colonel a job at $125,000 per year, according to a news release from Rod J. Rosenstein, a U.S. attorney.
Moran never got the ISS job. The colonel pleaded guilty in 2003 to conspiracy and bribery charges in a federal court in California involving contracts not related to this most recent case, the news release stated. He is in prison in California.
Then there is the continuous black marketing going on:
Military officials are targeting a black-market scheme that involves spouses of U.S. soldiers and civilians buying duty-free food at commissaries in Area I and II for resale to South Korean restaurants, according to ration control officials.
What is it about Korea that causes corruption to flourish here? Does anyone have any comments about if military bases in Japan or Europe have as much corruption as here in Korea?
Wow You guys are clueless!
S. Korea is not a closed economy. It was like that back in'80s! The black market is there because food is duty free!
The reason why corruption is higher in korea is because there are lotta things to be stolen and the system is less secure than other countries! In korea, the relationship between people is more trusted than other things like bureaucratic system. The other reason is that there were lotta dictatorships, which was supported by the US! You know that an absolute power is followed by absolutely foul corruption. I mean for Christ's sake there were so man con mans who pretended they were related to the dictators! Although the system is getting better under democratic gov., it takes time to extract those foul things.
Well, as long as Korea has a closed economy, and the commissary offers products at way cheaper prices blackmarketing will always be a way to make money. When I was there, you could make an easy 100%-200% profit on just about anything you bought. If you got caught by the Koreans it was a matter of paying them off. Americans did'nt believe inthe pay me off and I'll let you go attitude. Christ look at the Korean news, corruption is a form of life in Korea. As for Germany, well, they did too, but to a much lessor extent.
It's my impression that it didn't happen that much in Germany years ago, of course if it did I suppose I would be the last to know.
Ration card & commissary privilege "abuse" occurred, I remember one of my fellow lieutenants who lived on the economy being approached by his landlord with evident expectations of getting stuff from US commissary (ice cream). In a manner which indicated this had been the norm with the previous American tenant.
The vaunted German "efficiency" manifested itself in the reputation that German employees had for being absolute sticklers for enforcing the rules. Drive 50 miles to get a piece of property turned in, if you got there at 1631 when they closed at 1630 tough.
God only knows what is happening in Iraq right now however. Not with US personnel so much but but as with Iraqi government and military, corruption will be one of the biggest obstacles to that country ever becoming a going concern.
GI,
Germany, along with most of Europe became infected with the Christian virus during its past: Christian idealism began subverting the unmitigated pagan instinct to self-advance at the expense of others. Of Course, Germany suffered a Neo-Con delusion under Hitler … but, still the culture is haunted by Christianity which mitigates corruption.
Japan developed a cult of self-perfection — seeing themselves as a divine race represented by their divine emperor. Thus, an ethos of self-sacrifice and loyalty to the Japanese Emperor and his divine race mitigated the corruption toward the in-group: but, allowed this divine race to view outsiders as sub-human: eg. Rape of Nanking, Bataan March,the abuse of Western soldiers in the Phillipenes and South East Asia.
The deep spiritual strain underlying Korea is shamanism: the manipulation of invisible forces for self-advancement above all other principles. Shamanism teaches divinity is a cosmic force to be manipulated for the advancement of the human will; radical submission to a divine will is considered a losing formula for life under shamanism: it's a spiritual cult of opportunism — hence, chronic corruption without guilt, unless — caught.
That is why, your multicultural indoctrination compels you to dishonestly portray the outrages of Korea as merely symptoms of isolated dysfunctional elements in Korea: multiculturalism runs afoul if it admits a whole culture's social fabric could be — evil. The reason why even you ridicule your own presidents's characterization of evil attributed to a nation.
The truth: Korea is a culture of Asian Voodoo — corruption is the stripes on this Asian Tiger's back.
Once, you admit this … you will look less like your top brass in their naive dealings with Korea.
I think it's a cultural thing, not only seen in Korea, but also many under-development or recently emerged countries. If you go to South-Asian or African countries to do some business, I do believe you would think Korea is much better.
It usually takes very long time to become a under-development industry country to a law-abiding country, though there are several exceptions.
China has not become a law-abiding country even after its 3,000 years history. Korea? You already know the answer….
Silly Sally,
GI is part of the solution, not the problem. GI stands for "G -lobally I-nformed": he is a global soldier “in connection†with others, and an “in-formed†American; he is capable of talking across the fence with Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Muslims, Koreans – people from other traditions –without assumption of superiority and power. It will take a decolonized attitude — as GI exemplifies –to appreciate the genuineness of others’ faiths, and to see and celebrate what is good, beautiful, and true in their cultures without any illusions Americans are any better.
GI is a saint, ready to die — not for America — but for the global brotherhood of mankind — that includes your so-called corrupt Koreans. I salute you, GI.
This is about the nicest compliment I have had on this blog, thanks but keep in mind that my loyalties first and fore most lie with what is in the best interests of the United States before any global interests.
Historical note: in the early 80s I recall that the Camp Red Cloud PX burned down twice in a one year period. Each time it was right before an audit.
GI,
Here is why you lack the arrogant colonial-attitude:
Your presuppositions morally equate America with other countries, so as not to arrogantly offend others — Korean culture, therefore, is neither better, nor worse than America — you sir, are no prideful colonialist — you see Korea as merely "different": corruption in Korea, according to your globally-informed perspective, is construed as a dysfunctional element needing eradication through education and effective policies.
You are more enlightened than the sober Koreans themselves: many whom insist Korea — in sympathy with Silly Sally's racist perspective — should not be portrayed as a system infected by a corruption virus, but confess Korean culture, in itself — is corruption: a cult of opportunism.
You, however, have an enlightened self-esteem gospel that will set Koreans free from such unflattery. You are a man of tolerance: you refuse to view Korea as a cult of opportunism — as Silly Sally portrays in a bigoted manner.
Seeing cultures a morally equal: you make no value judgements on a culture as a whole. The moral relativism you embrace is one of the fundamental principles of Marxism.
You, therefore, are spiritually at odds with traditional American values — you sir, are a revolutionary for the world — a brave new world.
You sir, despite your benign American self-identity — are a spiritual Marxian — another freedom fighter who has infiltrated the US Army looking for a job — only to spread memes of nihilism (cultural relativism), using your good-natured go-along-to-get-along personality as an effective tool to innocently subvert the moral infrastructure of the US Army and America: effectively degrading the basis for American sovereignty and freedom.
Your consolation for your martyrdom and moral terrorism against America: 72 ugly virgins — Allah Akbar!