Bribery scandal involving former NAVWAR employee widens

The case alleging bribery for contracts at the Naval Information Warfare Center continued to expand with a new indictment accusing a defense contractor of showering a former civilian employee with gifts.

Cask Technologies, LLC and former company executive Mark Larsen are charged with conspiracy and bribery in a grand jury indictment unsealed Wednesday in San Diego federal court.

According to the indictment, Larsen, who held various leadership positions at Cask, which has offices in San Diego and Virginia, is accused of giving luxury meals and golf outings to James Soriano, the man at the center of the corruption scandal.

Soriano is a former civil engineer and certified contracting officer representative who worked for the Department of Defense at the Naval Information Warfare Center, or NAVWAR, formerly known as the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, or SPAWAR.

Prosecutors said Soriano, who pleaded guilty in the case in June, included admissions about his relationship with Larsen and Cask in his plea agreement.

Soriano allegedly directed uncompetitive small business contracts to Cask and its subsidiaries in exchange for bribes and allowed Cask employees to ghostwrite much of the paperwork related to government contracting work for Soriano, such as official government correspondence and performance evaluations. indictment.

Court records show Larsen and Cask Technologies were arraigned in San Diego federal court on Wednesday, and Larsen was allowed to remain in custody on a $20,000 bail.

“Mark Larsen and Cask Technologies, LLC have pleaded not guilty to all charges and allegations in the government’s indictment,” Los Angeles-based attorney Aaron Dyer, who represents both defendants, said in an email. “These charges have no merit and we look forward to challenging them vigorously in court.”

The indictment is the latest in a series of contract fraud allegations involving Soriano, who admitted accepting expensive tickets to major sporting events and lavish meals from contractors, as well as procuring unemployed work for a close friend and a family member.

In September, Cambridge International Systems, a Virginia-based defense contracting firm, was sentenced to prison in San Diego and ordered to pay more than $4.1 million in fines and forfeitures after pleading guilty to a bribery conspiracy.

“This newest indictment is another constructive step toward accountability in this long-running investigation,” said Bryan D. Denny, special agent in charge of the Department of Defense Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Western Field Office. “Mr. “Larsen and Cask Technologies are accused of feeding their own greed by knowingly corrupting the government procurement process and certain government officials at the expense of our nation’s warfighters and taxpayers.”

Soriano is scheduled to be sentenced in May. Two others who pleaded guilty to their involvement are awaiting sentencing, while others are fighting the charges.