Ethics & Corruption

Ex-Army Corps Manager Pleads Guilty In Contract Bribery Case

He said in his statement that in about 2006, he and Alexander agreed to work to provide Corps contracts to companies in return for bribes.

According to Kerry Khan’s court statement, Big Surf was formed on or about Nov. 20, 2007, had an office in Virginia Beach and “was involved in residential and commercial construction projects.”

Khan’s statement also says that he, Babb and Miller used Corps- subcontracts awarded to Big Surf to get or attempt to obtain nearly $10 million using fictitious invoices. But Khan added that he and Babb “knew that Big Surf provided no services or equipment” to the Army Corps.

The subcontracts came from EyakTek through a Corps indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contract that was a vehicle for the alleged bribery scheme. The contract did not require multiple bidders.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the plan dealt with the ID/IQ Technology for Infrastructure, Geospatial and Environmental Requirements contract (TIGER); and a similar Contingency Operations Readiness Engineering & Support contract that was planned but never executed.

Federal officials said that, so far, they have seized or recovered about $7.5 million, plus real estate, cars and jewelry.

As ENR's former Washington Bureau Chief, Tom Ichniowski wrote about the federal government since the George H.W. Bush administration, and covered at least five major highway bills. A recognized expert on government policy on infrastructure and regulation, Tom is also a Baltimore native and Orioles fan who grew up rooting for Brooks and Frank Robinson. He is a graduate of Columbia College and Columbia’s graduate school of journalism, where he once used “unrelentless” in a headline.

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