in brief The US Department of Justice has charged six people with two separate schemes to defraud Uncle Sam out of millions of dollars connected to IT product and services contracts. The two cases , involving three individuals each, were the first time the DoJ issued charges connected to an ongoing investigation involving IT manufacturers, distributors and resellers and their deals with the federal government. The Department of Defense is among the agencies ripped off by the two groups of fraudsters, the DoJ noted, as were unspecified parts of the intelligence community.
"This office and our partners will use all available resources to hold accountable those who would undermine and distort the government's procurement of goods and services, especially those related to our cybersecurity infrastructure," said US Attorney Erek Barron for the District of Maryland. The first group, led by Maryland resident Victor Marquez, allegedly conspired to rig bids by using insider information "to craft bids at artificially determined, non-competitive and non-independent prices, ensuring Marquez's company would win the procurement," the DoJ said. Marquez was charged [PDF] in a four-count indictment with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud and major fraud, for which he's facing up to 70 years in prison, with his co-conspirators charged with similar offenses.
In the other group, Breal L. Madison Jr. was hit with a 13-count indictment [PDF], and his co-conspirators with lesser charges, "for orches.