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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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August 1st,
2007 - Fort Sam Officer Tied to Millions in Bribes |
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Fort Sam Officer
Tied to Millions in Bribes By Gary Contreras San Antonio Express-News August 1, 2007 A U.S. Army major stationed
at Fort Sam Houston is under investigation over allegations that he took more
than $7 million in bribes in exchange for steering contracts to certain
military contractors. No charges have been filed
against Maj. John Cockerham, 41, who most recently was with the Army
Contracting Agency's Southern Hemisphere Mission Support. A search of
national federal court databases also turned up no charges against others
named in the probe. But court records detail a
series of kickback schemes and maintain that Cockerham admitted accepting the
bribes after he was confronted with his own ledger documenting some of the
activity. "John Cockerham
admitted to receiving in excess of $7,000,000 in bribe payments from
different military contractors in Kuwait in exchange for military
contracts," the court filings said. "Cockerham also acknowledged
that the hand-written ledger was his, and that he used the ledger to keep
track of the money received and the money anticipated from various
contractors." Civil records the government
filed in federal court in Detroit outline two schemes. In one, Cockerham
admitted to investigators with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and
the Army that he agreed to $800,000 in kickbacks for fixing contracts for
bottled water for American troops in Kuwait and Iraq. The records - civil court
documents the government filed in order to keep $172,109 that was in a bank
account linked to another person in the $800,000 scheme - said investigators
served a search warrant at Cockerham's home on Fort Sam Houston on Dec. 21. Cockerham cooperated with
investigators after they found and seized from his home corporate and
financial documents and a hand-written ledger showing some of the activity,
according to the filings. Attempts to reach Cockerham
on Thursday were unsuccessful. The Army Contracting
Agency's headquarters in Falls Church, Va., said Thursday that no one was
available to respond to requests for comment until today. The civil filings detail
only a piece of the overall case, which is based in Detroit because the bank
account in question is linked to an address in that area. "At this particular
point, it's an ongoing investigation and there's nothing I can comment
about," said Greg Palmore, spokesman for ICE in Detroit. Cockerham, a commissioned
officer since 1993, has held various acquisition and contracting positions
with the military, the documents said. While arranging contracts
for the military in Kuwait, the documents said, he dealt with a company
called TransOrient. The civil filings said the company is operated by a man
named Falah Al Ajmi and that the businessman offered Cockerham a bribe in
return for the award of a lucrative bottled-water blanket purchase agreement. The transfer of money was
structured as an initial "good faith" payment followed by
additional payments, totaling 10 percent of the value of the contract, the
court records said. The money, which included an
initial payment of $300,000 in June 2005, was channeled through a conduit
named Megde "Mike" Ayesh Ismail, an American citizen who has worked
intermittently for various contractors in Kuwait, the records said. Ismail later offered
Cockerham a separate bribery scheme to steer another bottled-water contract
to Ismail's then-employer, a company called Green Valley, the court papers
said. Cockerham expected to take $800,000 in kickbacks from Green Valley, the
records said. In July 2005, a member of
Green Valley and Ismail met Cockerham in the parking lot of Camp Arifjan,
Kuwait, and showed him a briefcase containing $300,000 that Ismail was to
deposit in the United States, the documents said. Ismail came to San Antonio,
telling Cockerham he had deposited the money in an account in Ismail's name,
minus a commission, and gave Cockerham an ATM card and told him to withdraw
$2,000 each day, the records said. Cockerham told investigators
he never withdrew any money and destroyed the card because he feared that
video surveillance at the automated teller machines would link him to the
account, the documents said. Cockerham's case isn't the
first of graft alleged in contracting for the military. In May, federal authorities
in San Antonio obtained indictments against six people on charges that they
participated in a scheme to fix $87 million in contracts that originated from
the U.S. Army Medical Command, and one of its divisions, at Fort Sam Houston. The two investigations are
unrelated. External link: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA072007.01A.military_kickbacks.3405527.html |