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- This leads to Alaskan contracts being susceptible to fraud and general incompetence.
- ANC’s privileges help facilitate fraud.
- Giving a business ANC status makes it unfair to their non-indigenous competitors.
AT – CP – AlaskaAlaska Native Corporations allocate no-bid government contracts to the indigenous and are unique to the state of Alaska.O'Harrow 10 Robert. reporter on the Investigative Unit of the Washington Post. Washington Post. Thursday, November 18, 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/17/AR2010111707236.html. Date Accessed: July 2, 2012. LY. More than 200 of the corporations, known as ANCs, were created by Congress in 1971 to settle land claims and help improve life for tens of thousands of impoverished native people. The Pentagon and other agencies have spent more than $29 billion over the past decade on contracts with ANCs, which can receive deals of any size without competition and do not have to be run by Alaska natives, under rules pushed through in the late 1980s by then-Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). This leads to Alaskan contracts being susceptible to fraud and general incompetence.FBI 12 Washington Field Office. Federal Bureau of Investigation. “Former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Manager Pleads Guilty in Alleged $20 Million Bribery and Kickback Scheme” U.S. Attorney’s Office February 13, 2012. Date Accessed: July 2, 2012. LY. WASHINGTON—Michael A. Alexander, 55, a former program manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, pled guilty today to federal charges of bribery and conspiracy to commit money laundering in a scheme that allegedly involved more than $20 million in bribes and kickback payments and the planned steering of a $780 million government contract. The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr.; James W. McJunkin, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; Peggy E. Gustafson, Inspector General for the Small Business Administration (SBA); Robert E. Craig, Special Agent in Charge of the Mid-Atlantic Field Office of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS); Eric Hylton, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), and James K. Podolak, Director of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s (CID) Major Procurement Fraud Unit (MPFU). Alexander, of Woodbridge, Va., pled guilty before the Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. A sentencing date has not been set. The bribery charge carries a statutory maximum of 15 years in prison and the conspiracy charge carries up to 20 years of incarceration. The charges also carry potential fines, an order of restitution, and forfeiture of a money judgment for $1.25 million and specific property including cash, real property, bank account funds, and jewelry. As part of his plea agreement, Alexander agreed to cooperate in the government’s ongoing investigation. At a separate and related hearing earlier today, also before Judge Sullivan, Robert L. McKinney, 51, pled guilty to bribery. McKinney was the president of Alpha Technology Group, one of the companies involved in the contracting scam. Alpha Technology Group was not one of the companies referenced in the original indictment returned against Alexander and others on September 16, 2011. A sentencing date for McKinney also has not been set. As part of his plea agreement, McKinney agreed to forfeit about $245,000, representing the illegal proceeds he retained from the crime. He also agreed to cooperate in the government’s ongoing investigation. *** “Today’s bribery and money laundering pleas relate to one of the largest procurement fraud scandals in our nation’s history and demonstrate this office’s steadfast commitment to holding accountable unscrupulous government officials, as well as the contractors who entice them with bribes and kickbacks,” said U.S. Attorney Machen. “Protecting the American taxpayer is one of our highest priorities and we will remain vigilant in the pursuit of those both inside and outside of the government who attempt to cheat the system and loot the public treasury.” “Bribery and kickbacks have no place in government contracting,” said Assistant Director in Charge McJunkin. “The FBI and our partner agencies will continue to pursue those who engage in such criminal activity, as we work to protect federal funds and American taxpayers. We ask anyone with information about government fraud to contact the FBI.” “Today’s announcement demonstrates the resolve of law enforcement to aggressively identify and prosecute individuals considering defrauding the federal government by deceit and bribery,” said SBA Inspector General Gustafson. “There are severe consequences associated with this form of criminal conduct, as this case uniquely demonstrates. ANC’s privileges help facilitate fraud.DeMarban 11 Alex | Oct 05, 2011. Alaska Dispatch. http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/heels-eyaktek-scandal-renewed-8a-scrutiny. Date Accessed: July 2, 2012. LY. Rep. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, says he's calling for a Congressional hearing on the "kickback scandal" involving the U.S. Army Corps and an Alaska Native corporation. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, D.C. released information yesterday about the alleged scheme, noting that four people had attempted to defraud the federal government of $20 million. Criminal charges were brought against two Army Corps contracting officers and Harold Babb, an executive from EyakTek. The company is a subsidiary of an Alaska Native village corporation representing Cordova. Rod Worl, chief executive of parent company Eyak, said in a written statement Tuesday that Babb was "immediately terminated." Markey made the request in a letter to Rep. Doc Hastings, chair of the Natural Resources Committee and a Republican from Washington state. The letter immediately raises issues about the controversial 8(a) program that offers Native corporations an edge when they bid for federal contracts. Markey wonders whether the program includes enough oversight to protect U.S. taxpayers and Alaska Natives who are shareholders in the companies. "The exposure of a massive bribery and kickback scam involving Eyak Technology (EyakTek), an Alaska Native Corporation (ANC) subsidiary that served as prime contractor for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, raises questions about whether there are adequate controls in place to prevent fraud and abuse at ANCs and protect U.S. taxpayers and Alaska Native shareholders," Markey wrote in the letter dated this morning. The letter names only Babb, and focuses on EyakTek. It doesn't mention the others who are charged: Army Corps contracting officers Michael A. Alexander and Kerry F. Khan, as well as Khan's son, Lee A. Khan. "I am concerned that EyakTek's status as an ANC may have facilitated this scam," Markey writes. Giving a business ANC status makes it unfair to their non-indigenous competitors.Weigelt 12 Matthew, Feb 02, 2012, http://washingtontechnology.com/articles/2011/02/02/senator-claire-mccaskill-alaska-native-corporation-status-bill.aspx. Date Accessed: July 2, 2012. LY. Under the current rules, agencies can limit competition for a contract to only ANCs, and even award a sole-source contract to an ANC. In addition, the companies do not have to be certified small businesses to get the contracts, even though the special rules fall under a small business development program. McCaskill's investigative report on ANCs among other things found ANCs’ share of government contracts has grown six times the rate of overall federal spending since 2000. Also four ANCs were among the top 100 recipients of contract awards, and in 2009 six companies made Washington Technology’s Top 100 list of IT contractors. The debate over the unique treatment of ANCs heats up both sides of the issue—the Alaskans and other small business owners who are under the more restrictive regulations. During the 2009 hearing, Sarah Lukin, executive director of the Native American Contractors Association, said 11 large ANCs provided more than $530 million to more than 67,000 shareholders in fiscal 2008 and 2009. The point of ANCs’ status is to help the tribes in the northernmost state, which is economically depressed. However, business owners say the ANC status is a boondoggle and obstructs other small businesses from opportunities to succeed in the federal marketplace. They don’t have a chance to compete against an ANC or protest an award. Directory: file -> view view -> Western Europe after wwii view -> Author study: paul fleischman view -> Qpa1 7ela study Guide view -> Arctic Oil/Gas Neg view -> November 1970 Approximately 150,000-500,000 deaths Bhola Cyclone Bangladesh view -> Grade Level: 6 Unit of Study: Caribbean glce view -> Citation: Duffield, Katy view -> Table of Contents Lesson # view -> Chinese Wind Energy Disad Download 0.8 Mb. Share with your friends:
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