A former public official and California contractor was recently sentenced for bid rigging and bribery.
Former Caltrans contract manager Choon Foo "Keith" Yong and contractor William D. Opp were found guilty of participating in a bid-rigging and bribery scam involving Caltrans improvement and repair contracts, according to and April 24 news release.
“A former Caltrans employee and a contractor have been sentenced today for a conspiracy that cheated a state agency out of taxpayer funds and that, if left unchecked, could threaten to undermine public confidence in the proper functioning of government institutions," Attorney Phillip Talbert said in the release. "The defendants’ abuse of public trust and the length and breadth of the criminal conduct fully warrant today’s sentences. Bribes have no place in government contracting.”
Yong and his co-conspirators admitted to conspiring to obstruct the competitive bidding process for Caltrans contracts between early 2015 and late 2019, in order to ensure that businesses controlled by Yong's co-conspirators would submit the winning bid and receive the contract, the release reported.
Cash payments, wine, furniture and remodeling services for Yong's house were used as bribes, according to the release. Yong earned compensation and benefits worth around $1 million in total.
From early 2015 through at least as recently as August 2018, Opp established a different construction firm with his wife serving as the fictitious president, the release said. Opp and other conspirators gave Yong roughly $800,000 in in payments and other benefits during his involvement in the plot.
Yong received a 49-month prison term and was also required to pay $984,699.53 in restitution, the release said. Opp received a 45-month prison term and was mandated to pay $797,940.23 in reparations. They are the second and third co-conspirators to be sentenced in this case.
“These criminals – including a state employee who sought sales commissions for his role in the bid-rigging scheme – put greed and personal gain ahead of the public trust and are being punished accordingly," Justice Department Procurement Collusion Strike Force Director Daniel Glad said in the release. "The Antitrust Division and our PCSF partners are on the lookout for those that try to cheat on government contracts.”