US officials admit to IT bribery scheme

Government officials were among those who pleaded guilty in an ongoing bid-rigging, fraud, and bribery probe related to US government IT purchases.

The four guilty pleas are the first in the Justice Department's (DoJ) investigation into IT manufacturers, distributors, and resellers who provide products and services to the government, including the intelligence community.

Brandon Scott Glisson, a government contractor, and Lawrence A. Eady, a federal government official, both pleaded guilty to separate counts of bribery in November, the DoJ announced this week.

Public documents show that Glisson used his company, Alpha Greatness Omega (AGO), to pay approximately $630,000 in bribes to Eady between August 2019 and October 2020.

In exchange for the bribes, Eady ensured that the US government purchased IT products from one of their co-conspirators' companies at artificially inflated, non-competitive prices. The inflated portion of the payments was then diverted to AGO.

Glisson used the money for luxury purchases and to pay further bribes to Eady, the DoJ said.

The two other guilty pleas were from Antwan C.K. Rawls, an on-site government IT consultant, and Scott A. Reefe, an IT sales executive. Both pleaded guilty earlier in January to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

According to public documents, from at least 2018 through May 2019, Rawls, Reefe, and their co-conspirators exploited their positions of trust to access sensitive procurement information, including budget details for large government IT contracts.

They used that inside information to rig bids for US government IT procurements at artificially inflated, non-competitive prices, ensuring that one of their associated companies would win the contracts.

Authorities estimate that this scheme resulted in at least $1.3 million in losses for the US government.

“These convictions bring to justice individuals who cheated and defrauded the United States government for their own personal gain,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Doha Mekki of the DoJ's Antitrust Division.

Bid-rigging in government contracts “will not go unnoticed or unpunished,” Mekki added.

Christopher Dillard, the Department of Defense's special agent in charge, said the authorities will continue to “aggressively” investigate similar cases and “protect the integrity” of the procurement process.

Glisson and Eady each face a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Reefe could face up to 20 years, while Rawls faces a maximum of five years.