Posted by Tina
A Federal career Army Corps of Engineers program manager was the “mastermind” of what is being called a contractor “shakedown” of “historic proportions”…now he’s going to jail:
He was a career federal bureaucrat with a dark side, inflating government contracts by millions of dollars and then shaking down contractors for the proceeds. The money funded a lavish and sordid lifestyle — a real estate empire in Northern Virginia, leased BMWs, Neiman Marcus shopping sprees, and mistresses in three states and the Philippines.
On Thursday, a federal judge sentenced Kerry F. Khan, the mastermind of a contracting scam of “historic proportions,” to nearly two decades behind bars. It was even more than prosecutors had requested because of the “staggering” scope of the scheme. U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said he also wanted to deter other would-be criminals in the billion-dollar world of federal contracting.
“You made history for the wrong reasons,” Sullivan told Khan, 55, a former Army Corps of Engineers program manager and the ringleader of a network of corrupt public officials and government contractors who stole more than $30 million through inflated billings and fake invoices.
U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. has called it the largest bribery and bid-rigging scheme in federal contracting history.
It’s government that has the power! The power to propose and accept bribes, the power to diligently oversee, or not, the power to reject offers of bribes and refuse to accept bids from…the power to waste our hard earned dollars and spend some of it on themselves!
At least we actually caught and prosecuted this guy. Makes me wonder, “who’s toes did he stepped on?”
It is about time! Most of the pork in Congress goes to these contractors who do crummy work, overbill and sometimes ship the work overseas. We should require all contractors to hire only US citizens.
Also, notice that Napolitano resigned as Secretary of Homeland Security to come to California and run the UC system. I hope that it doesn’t pay more to run the UC System in California than it does to run the entire Department of Homeland Security. Our college tuition is through the roof, and our administrators make more than the Governor of California.
Princess I know you have it in for contractors and that’s fine, you are entitled to your opinion. I’d appreciate a few examples of contractors doing “crummy work” so I can see where you have developed your focus.
In the meantime please note that it is the government bureaucrat that, according to the article, is going to jail. They referred to his methods as a “shakedown”. That usually implies that the contractors were intimidated in some way…play ball or he’d see to it that they did not get paid or something of that nature. Now I’m more than certain that some contractors are more than happy to play ball with these corrupt types but be very clear the bureaucrat has the hammer in the deal. He can both award and cancel the contract. He can cancel for no reason after the contractor has already invested in materials, equipment and labor if he doesn’t get what he wants. The bureaucrat can delay payments and they can often get away with not paying interest even if the contract says they must.
I’m very happy to see that this guy got nailed. You would think it would be front page news. Trouble is the antique media is in bed with politicians and bureaucrats…they don’t want to spoil their chances of being considered on the outside. Americans have to rely on themselves and the few brave folks out there trying very hard to do real investigating and reporting.
Off topic, but still concerning our military. We just lost another high ranking military officer bringing the count to at least seven under this administration. What is going on and why are so many leaving?
General Roberts Resigns, Latest of Many Removed Under Obama:
Continuing an alarming trend of general-grade officers being forced into retirement under the Obama Administration, Brigadier General Bryan Roberts abruptly resigned earlier this week. Roberts, the Commander of Fort Jackson, the Army’s largest training post, also oversaw the training of Iraqi security forces and worked on the Joint Staff of the Pentagon. Somewhat unsurprisingly, he resigned under allegations of misconduct; apparently, according to the Army Criminal Investigations Division, General Roberts was in an “altercation” with a woman.
No criminal charges are being filed, but if General Roberts’ case sounds oddly familiar, that’s because it is; a slew of the military’s top officers have been removed from service under the Obama Administration, not a few of them accused of “misconduct”.
In 2009, General David McKiernen was in command of the Afghanistan theater, a no-brainer position for the man who led the United States ground forces in the invasion of Iraq. After being in office for only 4 months, and insinuating that Afghanistan was the nobler of the two wars, Obama relieved McKiernen of duty, due to the President’s “unsatisfaction” in his performance.
General Stanley McChrystal was relieved of Command of the International Security Assistance Force of Afghanistan by the President in 2010. The early retirement was linked to the suspicious death of reporter Michael Hastings, who had published a controversial story involving McChrystal in Rolling Stone Magazine. From 2003 to 2008, he served as director of the Joint Special Operations Command, and was known for being the man who said what others were afraid to, landing him in hot water with the Obama Administration.
McChrystal was replaced by General David Petraeus in 2010, who ended up being one of three high-ranking officers controversially removed by Obama over the Benghazi incident. Under allegations of adultery, which he was never indicted with, Petraeus formally retired as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, which was under heavy scrutiny following the death of Ambassador Stevens and the suspicious activity of the CIA in Libya. Petraeus, who formerly commanded all forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, also joined General Carter Ham and Admiral Adam Gaouette in early retirement, courtesy of the President. Both Ham, who was head of AFRICOM, and Gaouette, who was stationed off the coast of Africa, reportedly disobeyed stand-down orders by the Administration, in an attempt to rescue Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans when terrorist forces attacked the American embassy in Benghazi.
Earlier this year, the man who resumed command of ISAF after General Petraeus was relieved, Marine Corps General John Allen, resigned after allegations of “inappropriate communications” with Jill Kelly, the woman Petraeus was accused of having an affair with. The allegations were never criminally investigated, and were not the reasons for his resignation.
At least seven high ranking and high profile officers in the US military have been forced into an early retirement by the Obama Administration, most of them men who commanded forces in Afghanistan, or were involved with the debacle in Benghazi. It doesn’t take a very astute man to find this highly suspicious, and worthy of noting. If Obama is blatantly firing officers who disobey him, or men who threaten to expose his corruption, he sure is leaving a pretty obvious trail.
http://misguidedchildren.com/foreign-affairs/national-defense/2013/07/general-roberts-resigns-latest-of-many-removed-under-obama/1433
This guy should be taken out and shot in the head.
Tina, I am with you 100% about your response to Princess. When our government (at all levels) starts to prosecute both dishonest employees, and the person who benefits from it, we will start to see a improvement in how people perform their public jobs. After reading about the problems we have in Chico with all the redirection of tax money and dishonest bookkeeping, as well as the cover up, Chico would be a great place to start prosecuting people for their criminal intent.
Here’s another “shakedown” and waste of OUR money.
Napolitano will get paid approximately $300k more from Calif. taxpayers and rising student tuition than she did in DC for less responsibilities.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-uc-president-20130713,0,4945066.story
This might be a good time to remind everyone that in the midst of the student loan rate increase and debate Clowngress decided to create a loophole for “some federal workers and staff members”:
It’s all part of the Marxist “some pigs are more equal” theme.
Harold I don’t know whether the contractors were found guilty of anything. I’ll try to find out. If they were indeed coerced or blackmailed they were victims of this bureaucrat…like the Tea Party organizations were victimized by the powerful IRS. I agree though, if they colluded they need to be punished and our press should make a big deal of it to discourage such practices.
According to an earlier Washington Post story four people were arrested in the scam, including the son of Kahn:
I imagine they have been sentenced, or will be, in similar fashion.
The Money Trail from the past in Europe to the present in America and why we’re in a perpetual state of war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OU9AGUv4lk
Peggy that’s an interesting video. I see it as a mix of good information and wild conspiracy theory. I’m not fond of central banking or central government so on that level I can agree with these gentlemen. But the word control is often used by these guys when in fact the word investment or lending is more accurate. Ownership is also implied to be sinister when in fact the money that financed a lot of the advances we enjoy has worked for the overall good of society and individuals. The video hints that these controlling men meat in secret to keep the world in chaos just to make money…that they arm twist like big evil wizards. I can’t get behind that.
These guys hint at evil but never really connect the dots. Now, the book the one guy held up is 2 to 3 inches thick. Perhaps with enough words….?
War does provide an opportunity to make money but there are so many ways to make money I just can’t imagine this would be a favored means.