Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark W. Pletcher (619) 546-9714 and Patrick Hovakimian (619) 546-9718
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY - June 23, 2016
SAN DIEGO, CA - Former Department of Defense supervisory contracting officer Paul Simpkins pleaded guilty today to charges that he accepted bribes from Leonard Glenn Francis, the foreign defense contractor at the center of a massive bribery and fraud scandal.
Paul Simpkins, 62, of Haymarket, Virginia, supervised contracting officers responsible for awarding and administering U.S. Navy contracts. According to admissions made in his plea agreement, from approximately May 2006 until September 2012, Francis provided cash, travel expenses and the services of prostitutes in return for Simpkins’s efforts to steer contracts to his company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), and intervene on GDMA’s behalf in contracting disputes with the U.S. Navy. Simpkins admitted that during the years-long scheme, Francis provided him with hundreds of thousands of dollars through wire transfers to a bank account controlled by Simpkins’s former wife.
Sentencing is scheduled for September 9, 2016 at 9 a.m. before Judge Janis L. Sammartino.
Including Simpkins, 14 individuals have been charged in connection with this scheme; of those, 11 have pleaded guilty, including Rear Admiral Robert Gilbeau, Captain (Select) Michael Misiewicz, Captain Daniel Dusek, Lieutenant Commander Todd Malaki, NCIS Special Agent John Beliveau, Commander Jose Luis Sanchez and Petty Officer First Class Dan Layug.
On Jan. 21, 2016, Layug was sentenced to 27 months in prison and a $15,000 fine; on Jan. 29, 2016, Malaki was sentenced to 40 months in prison and to pay $15,000 in restitution to the Navy and a $15,000 fine; on March 18, 2016, Alex Wisidagama, a former GDMA employee, was sentenced to 63 months in prison and to pay $34.8 million in restitution to the Navy; on March 25, 2016, Dusek was sentenced to 46 months in prison and to pay $30,000 in restitution to the Navy and a $70,000 fine; and on April 29, 2016, Misiewicz was sentenced to 78 months in prison and to pay a fine of $100,000 and to forfeit $95,000 in proceeds for the scheme.
Francis and Ed Aruffo, a former GDMA employee, as well as GDMA, the corporate entity, have pleaded guilty and await sentencing. Retired Captain Michael Brooks, Commander Bobby Pitts and Lieutenant Commander Gentry Debord were charged by a federal grand jury on May 25, 2016, and their cases remain pending.
The investigation is being conducted by NCIS, DCIS and DCAA. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark W. Pletcher and Patrick Hovakimian of the Southern District of California are prosecuting the case along with Assistant Chief Brian R. Young of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Those with information relating to fraud, corruption or waste in government contracting should contact the NCIS anonymous tip line at www.ncis.navy.mil or the DOD Hotline at www.dodig.mil/hotline, or call (800) 424-9098.
DEFENDANT Case Number: 15-CR-0530
Former Department of Defense supervisory contracting officer Paul Simpkins Age 62
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Conspiracy to Commit Bribery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371
Maximum Penalty: 5 years in prison, $250,000 fine
Bribery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 201 (b) (2) (A) and (C)
Maximum Penalty: 5 years in prison, $250,000 fine
INVESTIGATING AGENCIES
Defense Criminal Investigative Service
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Defense Contract Audit Agency
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
