Tag: corruption

As many of you may remember, last year South Korea decided they would rather send a over a billion dollars to North Korea this year rather than properly fund the US-ROK alliance. Well now the impacts from this decision may effect the USFK transformation plans:

In a written statement to a Senate Armed Service Committee hearing on Monday, Gen. Burwell Bell said, Without more equitable allied SMA funding, we may be forced to recommend a range of fiscal measures to the U.S. government, including a review of base relocation and consolidation plans.

Commenting on a new Special Measures Agreement (SMA) on Korea’s cost sharing support for the USFK for 2007-2008 concluded at the end of last year, Bell said, The two allied nations should contribute approximately 50 percent each of the non-personnel stationing costs (NPSC) for U.S. forces in Korea.

But Korea paid 38 percent of upkeep last year and is to pay 41 percent this year. Bell said that was still short of the principle of equitable 50-50 cost sharing. He added, I cannot allow readiness to suffer, and I will not allow the quality of life of my service members or families to suffer.

In other base transformation news, if the expanded Camp Humphreys is to be built a contracting consortium has been selected to build the base expansion. There is only one problem, of one of the five contractors chosen; the company’s president is the husband of the commander of the US Army Corps of Engineers Far East District, Colonel Janice Dombi who’s department was responsible for awarding the contracts. Can anyone say conflict of interest?

The Osan Shakedown scandal has taken another interesting turn:

Lawyers for the Air Force officer convicted in an Osan Air Base bar district shakedown scandal in September say final steps in the case have met with post-trial delay.

Arguing that the delay poses a legal hindrance to their client, 1st Lt. Jason D. Davis, they’ve asked the Air Force to reduce his prison sentence. Until his arrest in March, Davis headed the 51st Security Forces Squadron’s police team patrolling the bar district outside Osan Air Base.

Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Dillow, Pacific circuit military judge, sentenced Davis on Sept. 21 to dismissal from the Air Force and two years in prison. Davis now is in the Charleston Naval Brig in Charleston, S.C.

But final post-trial action is still pending because the official trial records” including a transcript of legal proceedings and trial exhibits” have yet to be given to Air Force Lt. Gen. Garry R. Trexler.

Now because of a possible court clerical error Davis may now have more time taken off his already amazingly lenient two year sentence he has already received. The continuing strangeness of this case just makes you wonder if the conspiracy theories are true.

One of the groups protesting the US base expansion in Pyeongtaek is now considering wether or not to protest the light sentence given for corruption of the former leader of the Osan Town Patrol:

South Korean activist groups will consider mounting a campaign of protest rallies if the U.S. Air Force secretary lets 1st Lt. Jason D. Davis resign and avoid the prison term he received at his court-martial last week, an activist leader said Friday.

And they said they will seek legal advice on whether to urge South Korean prosecutors to charge Davis with rape, a charge Air Force prosecutors brought but later dropped when the alleged victim declined to go forward.

I actually hope they push this issue to try him in Korean courts because for whatever reason Davis did get a pretty light sentence. I can only guess why the Korean authorities push to arrest the driver of the LMTV that in an obvious accident, killed a elderly Korean woman jaywalking in Dongducheon, but they don’t decide to go after Davis? Here is why the authorities say they can’t go after Davis:

Kim said he’ll ask South Korean lawyers whether the nation’s legal system gives South Korean prosecutors avenues to pursue a rape case against Davis. If so, said Kim, his organization will press for that prosecution.

Jung Yu-seok, chief of the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, said Friday that South Korean authorities typically will not pursue a rape case if the alleged victim declines to testify or otherwise aid an investigation.

However, Jung added, a third party such as Kim’s organization could call on authorities to prosecute a case, but it is unlikely the prosecutors would do so unless first provided with the amount and type of evidence they would need to build a strong case.

Why would the Korean woman that was responsible for bringing attention to this case to begin with suddenly disappear and not testify? There are plenty of opinions on this matter but one thing for sure is that the Songtan business owners are eager to get back to business as usual:

.C. Lee, Songtan Chamber of Commerce president, said he was satisfied with Davis’ sentence, adding that now it’s key that the Air Force ensure such abuses are not repeated lest they inflame anti-U.S. feelings.

Nowadays many different kinds of groups have their own voices and then they can say, Oh, Yankees no good or, Americans no good, Lee said.

That kind of things we would like to prevent for future times.

I was reading the Stars and Stripes today and saw that the former Osan town patrol officer, 1LT Jason Davis was sentenced to 2 years in prison for his actions. The Stars and Stripes will have the article on their site tomorrow. Here is what 1LT Davis had to say in the article:

“I set a bad example for a lot of people. I’m here because I screwed up and I’m an idiot… My actions set back town patrol… Those guys deserved the recognition and they didn’t deserve the recognition that I bought them… I got no excuse.”

Everything that I have heard about 1LT Davis is that he is in fact an idiot and deserves what he got. However, I can’t help but think that I have seen soldiers get more time in military prison for charges not nearly as serious 1LT Davis’. I wasn’t at the trial and maybe the defense lawyers did a good job showing what a great guy 1LT Davis is to get so little jail time. I don’t know, however I was tipped off to this article by Mark who was commenting over at Nomads site.

The site Military Corruption.com brings up some good points worth sharing. First of all that the court martial was executed during Chusok to avoid Korean press coverage was slick. Secondly, the fact that the Korean girl that Davis had a romantic relationship with that exposed his activities to begin with didn’t testify I also found interesting. It seems like she would have been the key witness in this whole court martial. Thirdly, the site believes the fix may have been in for this trial to keep Davis quiet about how far up the chain the corruption went. After seeing this light sentence, who knows, you can be the judge on that one.

1LT Jason Davis who was formerly in charge of the Osan town patrol, has pleaded guilty to the numerous charges that were brought before him during his on going court martial:

Air Force 1st Lt. Jason D. Davis pleaded guilty to charges stemming from running illicit police undercover operations; accepting cash from club owners; maintaining illicit sexual liaisons with bar girls; violating the U.S. military’s curfew that his police team had the duty of enforcing; being drunk and disorderly; having sex with women who were not his wife; illegal weapons possession; illegally maintaining an off-base apartment; using racial and ethnic slurs; filing a leave request with false information as to his intended destination; and maintaining an improper relationship with a subordinate airman.

Right now Davis is looking at up to 21 years in prison for his actions. However, he is still waiting to see if the Secretary of the Air Force will approve his request to resign in lieu of a court martial. I highly doubt the request will be approved and since he pleaded guilty already some pre-trial agreement for sentencing has probably already been worked out, which means he will not serve the full 21 years.

The article did shed some light on some of the details of this case, like the weapons charge the Koreans are bringing against him:

In addition, Dooge testified, Davis fired plastic pellets at him from an airgun, locked him for about 30 minutes in the squadron’s women’s dressing room and refused to release him.

Here are some more details that are proving some of the earlier rumors to have some merit:

The court also heard testimony from Lee Hye-chin, who said she got to know Davis while she managed the off-base Zone Club.

Lee testified Davis would pay about $200 to bar fine various female club workers.

And on one occasion, according to Lee, Davis pressured her unsuccessfully to arrange a liaison, free of charge, with bar girls.

He want to have Korean or Russian girls, Lee testified. He want me to hook up for him.   He want me to get for him free.

When she declined, she said, Davis raised the possibility that he could use his position as head of the Town Patrol to have the club put off-limits.

Earlier in the proceedings, Davis told Dillow he’d maintained a sexual relationship with Kim Mun-hui, a woman with family ties to another local club.

Kim, Davis said, lavished numerous gifts on him, including a Chrysler Sebring car, a Rolex watch, Louis Vuitton slippers and cash.

We also took a vacation to Guam, Davis told Dillow.  I also accepted free drinks from bar owners.

This story in today’s Stars and Stripes is strange but really not surprising:

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.

Camp Kwangsa-ri is located between Dongducheon and Uijongbu just off of Highway 3. The camp is mainly run by the ROK Army with a handful of civilian workers and even smaller contingent of US soldiers. All training ammunition is picked up and dropped off at this camp for 2ID. It appears the Mr. Kim they are looking for who I actually have had to interact with before at Kwangsa-ri to turn in ammo, if it is the same Mr. Kim, was trying to sell the shell casings as scrap metal but was negligent and let live rounds mix with the expended rounds when he handed over the brass to Mr. Shin. The Korean workers are extremely careful to seperate brass and live ammo at the facility so this slip up is equally strange:

The police detective said the three men in custody helped broker a deal between Kim and a man identified only as Shin, who paid about $30,000 for the casings and ammunition as scrap metal. Im said Shin was not arrested because police believe he didn’t know the merchandise was stolen when he purchased it.

The detective said some of Shin’s employees who had military experience became suspicious of the ammunition boxes and contacted the police.

Im said that as former soldiers, the employees said they knew that “if even one bullet was missing in their units, it would be a really huge problem for them.”

Im said 5.56 mm, 7.62 mm and .50-caliber rounds and shell casings were found in the cases.

Since Mr. Shin turned over the ammunition to the police this leads me to believe he probably didn’t do anything illegal. However, if they did try to melt down the ammo it really could of turned into a dangerous situation for those involved. I just wonder how long Mr. Kim has been selling the old brass for $30,000 a pop? He has been there for quite a while. If Mr. Shin didn’t turn them in, Mr. Kim would have never gotten busted. It also makes me wonder how many other illegal activities such as this goes on in Korea without USFK knowing?

I have to give a hat tip to the Lost Nomad for pointing this Stars and Stripes article out. It appears there may be truth to the rumors I reported before.

Much of Friday’s testimony centered on Davis’ alleged relationship with a South Korean woman whose family owns a club in Songtan that base officials had declared off-limits to U.S. servicemembers.

According to testimony, Davis offered her guidance on how to get the ban lifted and eventually began a sexual relationship with her, concealing from her the fact that he was married.

So he did have a Korean girl friend who’s dad was a club owner. I guess we will see if the rest of the rumor is true as this eventually goes to trial.

Here is something I hadn’t heard before though:

Davis also faces prosecution by South Korean authorities on charges of possessing weapons at an off-base residence, in violation of South Korean law. South Korean authorities may file additional charges later, U.S. Force Korea officials have said.

I’m wondering how this guy could of had weapons which I’m assuming to be a gun in his apartment. Maybe Nomad can help me out here, but is the Air Force allowed to bring hand guns over here? I know the Army cannot. Anyway this 1LT Davis is looking more and more like a real bad apple. The legal system will determine if he is or not but I have already pretty much made up my mind.

The Stars and Stripes has an update about the Osan officer currently jailed at Camp Humphrey’s for alledgedly shaking down bar owners.

A U.S. Air Force lieutenant was charged Friday with bribery, extortion, rape and other misconduct in connection with an alleged shakedown scandal while he headed the Air Force police team that patrols the bar district outside Osan Air Base.

The officer, 1st Lt. Jason D. Davis of the 51st Security Forces Squadron, also was charged with assault, larceny, adultery, violations of regulations and lawful orders, willful dereliction of duty, making false official statements and conduct unbecoming an officer, according to a U.S. Forces Korea news release.

The assault and rape charges throws a new wrinkle into this case because I have heard absolutely nothing about those offenses. It is safe to say 1LT Davis is in some extremely serious trouble looking at these charges.

I have posted before about what rumors I have heard. However, what I still can’t understand is how the bar owners thought that 1LT Davis had the power to put their clubs off limits? In 2ID the club owners before being put off limits can make their case to a board comprised of senior leaders in the division about why they should not be put off limits. I’m not sure how they do it in Osan, maybe the Nomad can help me out here, but the process should be similar. If the club owners felt like they were being shaked down by the town patrol why didn’t they make their case to the board in Osan about it? If they did launch a complaint, then why didn’t the board launch an investigation into the allegations? If I was this guy’s lawyer this is what I would be looking at.

Even so 1LT Davis is still got charges against him he can’t possibly beat such as making a false official statement, conduct unbecoming of an officer, and adultery. These charges are all serious and pretty cut and dry. He better hope his lawyer can work out a good plea deal for him because he is going to get convicted of something, it is just a matter of what and how many.