BALTIMORE, MD—The Department of Justice has indicted six individuals for their involvement in schemes to rig bids, defraud the government, and pay bribes and kickbacks in connection with the sale of IT products and services to federal government purchasers.

These actions resulted in overcharges of millions of dollars to the U.S. government, impacting agencies like the Department of Defense (DoD).

The charges were announced in two separate indictments by a federal grand jury in Baltimore on October 9 and October 16. This marks the first stage of an ongoing investigation by the Justice Department into IT manufacturers, distributors, and resellers who provide products and services to government purchasers, including the intelligence community.

The first indictment focuses on Victor M. Marquez, a Maryland resident and owner of two IT companies with significant government contracts. Marquez, along with his employee Antwann C.K. Rawls and IT sales executive Scott A. Reefe, are accused of rigging bids and inflating contract values to obtain more money from valuable IT contracts.

They allegedly used their positions to access confidential procurement information, including budgets for large government IT contracts. This information was then used to craft bids that were artificially determined and non-competitive, ensuring Marquez’s company would win the procurement.

Court documents reveal that the co-conspirators shared their bids in advance, even emailing each other to confirm the submission of “high price third bids.” Despite the government seeking independent, competitive bids and Marquez’s certification of independent bidding, the co-conspirators submitted collusive bids.

If convicted, Marquez could face 20 years in prison for each conspiracy and wire fraud count and 10 years in prison for major fraud.

The second indictment involves Breal L. Madison Jr., another Maryland resident, who is accused of orchestrating a scheme that lasted several years and defrauded his employer and the U.S. government of over $7 million. This scheme involved the sale of IT products to various government agencies.

Two other individuals, IT contractor Brandon Scott Glisson and his former supervisor Lawrence A. Eady, a former senior government employee, are also implicated in this case.

Court documents allege that Madison and his co-conspirators conspired to steal money from Madison’s employer and government agencies through various misrepresentations. They illegally diverted over $9 million to a shell company owned by Madison and another shell company. Approximately $630,000 was used to purchase luxury items and bribe Eady to ensure the purchase of additional Madison products.

Madison used his ill-gotten gains to acquire a Vanquish VQ58 yacht, a 2020 Lamborghini Huracan, and several other vehicles, which the U.S. government is seeking to forfeit through the indictment.

If convicted, Madison faces a potential sentence of five years for conspiracy, 15 years for each bribery count, 20 years for each mail fraud count, and 10 years for each money laundering count.

The cases were investigated by multiple agencies, including the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), the FBI Baltimore Field Office, the CIA Office of Inspector General, and the NSA Office of Inspector General.

The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys from the District of Maryland are prosecuting the cases.

This article was written with the assistance of AI and reviewed by a human editor.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels