More corruption charges related to the Camp Humphreys relocation project:
Picture of construction during the Camp Humphreys expansion project.
A 58-year-old Pearl City man is in custody at the Federal Detention Center on charges that he accepted and hid more than $2.8 million in bribes that he solicited to steer more than $400 million worth of engineering and construction work to a particular South Korean-based multinational company when he worked as a contracting officer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday charging Duane Nishiie and South Korean national Seung-Ju Lee, 50, with conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and lying in connection with the awarding of two contracts that are part of a massive, ongoing U.S. Army relocation project in South Korea.
Nishiie pleaded not guilty Friday. Lee has yet to answer to the charges. (…….)
According to the indictment, Nishiie and Lee steered a December 2008 infrastructure and engineering contract worth more than $400 million to a particular company and a March 2010 construction contract worth more than $6 million to the same company in exchange for bribes. Lee was an officer in the procurement arm of the Korean Ministry of Defense, which is working with the U.S. government on the Army relocation project. [Honolulu Star Advertiser]
This explains 8th Army HQ first floor flooding with the first big rain this summer.
guitard
7 years ago
So … how do you sneak $2.8 mil out of Korea (assuming he didn’t just leave it there)?
guitard
7 years ago
On second thought … presumably he never received that money in Korea and got it sent to himself (or someone else) in the US.
Damn … I wish we could edit our posts!
Andy
7 years ago
From the article: ” The indictment says Nishiie hid the bribe money he received by purchasing real estate and putting it in bank accounts in the names of others, including two girlfriends.
Nishiie quit his job with the Army Corps of Engineers in 2012 and started lobbying Defense Department officials for construction projects on behalf of the company that had previously paid him bribes, the indictment says.”
I think the lobbying part was legal, but receiving a “commission” on the winning contracts was most definitely not, 😈
JoeC
7 years ago
The article said:
The indictment says Nishiie hid the bribe money he received by purchasing real estate and putting it in bank accounts in the names of others, including two girlfriends.
That said, American laws require American banks to report to the government transactions over $10,000 and banks are advised to report suspicious transactions such and numerous transfers just under $10,000.
Also, changes in American laws a couple of years now require foreign banks to provide information on the accounts of their American customers which would be used to check against what those Americans are reporting to the IRS. Americans expats are also required to report assets (including real estate) that are over certain limits on their tax filings.
Then, having to trusting two “girlfriends” and the bank accounts of “others” to help him hide and move all that money must have been his biggest hurdle. You know what they say? “Three people can keep a secret if …”
It must have taken considerable effort to get that money out and obviously he failed and got caught anyway.
guitard
7 years ago
Nishiie hid the bribe money he received by purchasing real estate and putting it in bank accounts in the names of others, including two girlfriends.
I wonder if the girlfriends will also get busted for this? They had to have known something … Or do they get to keep the money?
This explains 8th Army HQ first floor flooding with the first big rain this summer.
So … how do you sneak $2.8 mil out of Korea (assuming he didn’t just leave it there)?
On second thought … presumably he never received that money in Korea and got it sent to himself (or someone else) in the US.
Damn … I wish we could edit our posts!
From the article: ” The indictment says Nishiie hid the bribe money he received by purchasing real estate and putting it in bank accounts in the names of others, including two girlfriends.
Nishiie quit his job with the Army Corps of Engineers in 2012 and started lobbying Defense Department officials for construction projects on behalf of the company that had previously paid him bribes, the indictment says.”
I think the lobbying part was legal, but receiving a “commission” on the winning contracts was most definitely not, 😈
The article said:
That said, American laws require American banks to report to the government transactions over $10,000 and banks are advised to report suspicious transactions such and numerous transfers just under $10,000.
Also, changes in American laws a couple of years now require foreign banks to provide information on the accounts of their American customers which would be used to check against what those Americans are reporting to the IRS. Americans expats are also required to report assets (including real estate) that are over certain limits on their tax filings.
Then, having to trusting two “girlfriends” and the bank accounts of “others” to help him hide and move all that money must have been his biggest hurdle. You know what they say? “Three people can keep a secret if …”
It must have taken considerable effort to get that money out and obviously he failed and got caught anyway.
I wonder if the girlfriends will also get busted for this? They had to have known something … Or do they get to keep the money?