A Texan grand jury recently found two South Korean nationals guilty in their part of a scheme to defraud the United States.

According to a March 17 press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Hyun Ki Shin and Hyuk Jin Kwon were contractors who worked on a U.S. military station in South Korea. The DOJ states the contractors, along with others, reportedly took part in a conspiracy to rig bids, fix subcontract work prices and scam the U.S. Department of Defense out of millions of dollars. 

"Bid rigging, price fixing and fraud are crimes," Jonathan Kanter, DOJ assistant attorney general, said. "We will not stand by as criminals engage in illegal conduct to harm our military installations overseas."

The defendants have reportedly been defrauding the U.S. since November of 2018. The seven-count indictment charges Kwon and Shin with one count of conspiracy to restrain trade and six counts of wire fraud. This indictment is the first of the ongoing investigation into bid rigging and price fixing for operation and maintenance work for U.S. military installations in South Korea.

"The defendants allegedly conspired to fix prices and rig bids for repair and maintenance work at U.S. military bases. These actions are not only illegal, but they fundamentally violate the tenets of fair trade," Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Investigative Division Assistant Director Luis Quesada. "This indictment shows the FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to investigating schemes intended to defraud others, even those devised on foreign soil.”