Tag Archives: New York City

Middleman Who Lied About Being an Agent of a Foreign Official Sentenced to 3 ½ Years in Prison for Role in Foreign Bribery Scheme Involving $800 Million International Real Estate Deal

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Thursday, October 5, 2017

The middleman in a foreign bribery scheme who falsely held himself out as an agent of a foreign official was sentenced today to 42 months in prison for each count, to run concurrently, for his role in a scheme to bribe a foreign official in the Middle East to land a real estate deal, and to defrauding his co-schemers.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim of the Southern District of New York and Assistant Director in Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. of the FBI’s New York Field Office made the announcement.

Malcom Harris, 53, of New York City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos of the Southern District of New York.  Harris pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering on June 21.

According to admissions made in connection with Harris’s plea, Harris participated in a corrupt scheme to pay bribes to a foreign official in a country in the Middle East in order to facilitate the sale by South Korean construction company Keangnam Enterprises Co., Ltd., (Keangnam) of a commercial building known as Landmark 72 in Hanoi, Vietnam, to the Middle Eastern country’s sovereign wealth fund.  According to the indictment, the building sale was valued at $800 million, and purported bribe would total $2.5 million.

In connection with his guilty plea, Harris admitted that, from on or about March 2013 to on or about March 2015, he wrongfully obtained $500,000 from his co-defendants by falsely holding himself out as an agent of a foreign official in text messages and emails.  Harris admitted directing the $500,000 to be deposited into an account in the name of Muse Creative Consulting, but which Harris actually controlled.  Thereafter, Harris used the illegally obtained money to engage in transactions exceeding $10,000, he admitted.

Harris was charged in a December 2016 indictment along with codefendants Joo Hyun Bahn aka Dennis Bahn (Bahn) and Ban Ki Sang (Ban).  According to the indictment, during this time, Ban was a senior executive at Keangnam, and allegedly convinced Keangnam to hire his son Bahn, who worked as a broker at a commercial real estate firm in Manhattan, to secure an investor for Landmark 72.

Bahn and Ban are awaiting trial.  The charges and allegations contained in an indictment are only accusations.  The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The FBI’s International Corruption Squad in New York City investigated the case.  In 2015, the FBI formed International Corruption Squads across the country to address national and international implications of foreign corruption.  Trial Attorney Dennis R. Kihm of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel S. Noble of the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided substantial assistance in this matter.

The Fraud Section is responsible for investigating and prosecuting all FCPA matters.  Additional information about the Justice Department’s FCPA enforcement efforts can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/foreign-corrupt-practices-act.

Woman Pleads Guilty To Theft Concerning Programs Receiving Federal Funds

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Thursday, July 27, 2017

SAN JUAN, P.R. – Zoraida Velázquez-Bracero plead guilty to an information charging her with theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, announced Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General was in charge of the investigation.

From June 2005 until July, 2015, Velázquez-Bracero was the Purchasing Director at Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, an entity that receives in excess of $10,000.00 in federal funding in a one year period. In this position, Defendant was issued a University corporate credit card for purchasing goods and supplies for the University as well as arranging official travel for University professors. However, in 2008 Defendant started using this corporate credit card for personal expenses not authorized by the University.

Through direct charges and cash advances, Velázquez-Bracero used this corporate credit card to pay for school tuition, household utility bills and other items, and vacations to Disney World, New York City, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Canada, and France. Defendant concealed the use of this corporate credit card by altering and/or creating fictitious credit card statements wherein she hid the charges by increasing the amounts of other legitimate charges to the card, or by deleting the charges altogether before submitting the statement to the finance department for payment.

Although the original limit on this corporate credit card was $80,000.00, Velázquez-Bracero obtained numerous credit limit increases by forging her supervisor’s signature on letters to the credit card company requesting said increases. Defendant knew that she was affecting federal grants when she illegally used this corporate credit card. The total amount of unauthorized charges by Velázquez-Bracero was $655,432.00.

“The defendant misappropriated funds intended to aid University students, for her illegal personal gain,” said US Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez. “At the U.S. Attorney’s Office we will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute financial crimes. This arrest should discourage those who get involved in these types of schemes before it’s too late, because we will continue investigating and prosecuting these offenses.”

“Federal education funds exist to provide students with educational opportunities and help students make their dreams of higher education a reality, it’s not a personal slush fund,” said Yessyka Santana, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General Southeast Regional Office. “I’m proud of the work of OIG special agents, our law enforcement partners, and the PCUPR staff for holding Ms. Velázquez accountable for her alleged criminal actions.”

As a result of the guilty plea, the defendant may be sentenced to a term of eight to fourteen months in prison, a fine not to exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000.00), and/or a term of supervised release of not more than three (3) years. Assistant United States Attorney Scott H. Anderson is in charge of the prosecution of the case.

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