What happened
The Justice Department announced criminal charges against two Florida defense contractors over an alleged bribery and major-fraud scheme that prosecutors say corrupted a competitive procurement process for a Department of War technology innovation lab in the Pacific.
Leonard Pick, 62, of Palm Beach Shores, and Brian Kent, 59, of Tampa, are accused of conduct affecting the construction and operation of the U.S. Army Pacific Command's Hawaii-Pacific Innovation Campus, which DOJ described as a planned hub for testing new technologies for the Department of War.
According to the DOJ press release, an indictment filed May 14 in the District of Hawaii and unsealed May 20 alleges that Pick and Kent conspired from January 2021 to October 2022 to bribe a U.S. Army employee with about $1.25 million over five years. Prosecutors say the defendants fraudulently inflated government contracting costs to include the alleged bribe payments.
The indictment also alleges that Kent separately defrauded the government from about September 2020 through October 2022 by inflating contract costs to include roughly $680,000 in payments intended for and sent to his personal consulting business, according to DOJ.
Pick and Kent are each charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and major fraud against the United States, bribery, major fraud against the United States and wire fraud. Kent also faces a second count of major fraud against the United States. DOJ said the charged offenses carry maximum penalties ranging from five years to 20 years in prison, depending on the count, with fines that may increase based on gain or loss.
The case sits within ongoing federal investigations into fraud and collusion in Hawaii's defense-contracting industry, according to DOJ. The investigation involves the Antitrust Division's San Francisco Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii, the FBI, the Army Criminal Investigative Division, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the GSA Office of Inspector General and NCIS.
For competition lawyers, the case is notable less as a traditional antitrust prosecution than as another Procurement Collusion Strike Force matter linking alleged procurement corruption to the Antitrust Division's broader focus on government-contracting integrity. DOJ said the PCSF targets antitrust crimes and related fraudulent schemes affecting government procurement, grants and program funding.
The indictment remains only an allegation, and DOJ said all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.