SEOUL, South Korea –
The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division’s Far East Field Office recently conducted a joint investigation with South Korean authorities, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the FBI into a conspiracy to rig bids on Defense Logistics Agency contracts and services at US installations in South Korea.
Between January 2019 and November 2023, several South Korean sub-contractors conspired together to rig the bidding process for facility management and supply contracts given by the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Defense Logistics Agency. Together they coordinated through email, text messages and phone conversations to predetermine the winning bids.
A US based firm, responsible for overseeing the bidding process allegedly participated in this collusion by limiting their inspections for predetermining companies, giving their favored firms an unfair advantage.
The fraudulent bidding took place through US military installations in South Korea, affecting 229 bids totaling 25.5 billion KRW (approx. 18.1 million USD.) South Korean prosecutors have charged nine individuals and 11 South Korean subcontracting firms, as well as several employees of the implicated US based firm.
“Collaborative efforts like this reinforce the importance of our global Field Office network, and Army CID’s partnerships with South Korean law enforcement agencies,” said Far East Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Michael DeFamio. “This result demonstrates our unwavering commitment to holding accountable anyone who attempts to defraud either nation.”
The agencies involved in this investigation were; Army CID, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, South Korean Ministry of Justice and Supreme Prosecutors Office, FBI, US Department of Justice Antitrust Division, and Department of Justice, US District Court, Western District of Texas.