Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Tracking & Law Enforcement

Navy Kickback Scheme Unveiled

Many are familiar with the popular T.V. series’ fictional account of the NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service). Real-life NCIS Acting Special Agent Kirk Greffin has been cracking down on white-collar crime, government corruption and contractor fraud. Greffen states, “A $10 million heist is a major crime, whether the money is taken with a gun or with a keyboard. Fraud victimizes every taxpayer. It wastes billions of tax dollars and erodes public confidence.

Many are familiar with the popular T.V. series’ fictional account of the NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service). Real-life NCIS Acting Special Agent Kirk Greffin has been cracking down on white-collar crime, government corruption and contractor fraud. Greffen states, “A $10 million heist is a major crime, whether the money is taken with a gun or with a keyboard. Fraud victimizes every taxpayer. It wastes billions of tax dollars and erodes public confidence. Citizens have the right to expect their public employees to be people of integrity—not self-serving criminals”

On February 8th, the Department of Justice in Providence, Rhode Island announced that a Navy contractor and a civilian naval employee accused of taking part in a kickback and bribery scheme worth $10 million in naval funds face federal charges.

Ralph Mariano, 52, a civilian program manager and senior systems engineer for the Naval Sea Systems Command in Virginia, and Anjan Dutta-Gupta, 58, founder and president of Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow (ASFT) go way back. Their decade-long scheme involves Dutta-Gupta allegedly paying Mariano and his relatives about $10 million to direct navy contracts to ASFT, whose mission statement touts integrity at its core. The two men lined their wallets and the work was never done.

Dutta-Gupta was arrested on Sunday in Atlanta by U.S. Customs agents and turned over to the FBI upon his return from Chile. Dutta-Gupta made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Atlanta on Monday. He was released on $25,000 unsecured bond and ordered to surrender his passport. The defendant will appear before a judge in Providence on February 15, 2011.

Mariano surrendered in Rhode Island on Monday and made an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Providence Monday. He was released on $50,000 unsecured bond, and ordered to surrender his passport.

If convicted, Mariano and Dutta-Gupta face up to 15 years in prison and fines of $250,000.

Related Reading:

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

• Man Pleads Guilty to Hacking Neighbor’s Wireless, Sending Threats against Vice President

• Mobile & Smart Device Security Survey 2010 – Concern Grows as Vulnerable Devices Proliferate

• Former Goldman Sachs Programmer Found Guilty After Stealing Computer Code

•  Mobile & Smart Device Security Survey 2010 – Concern Grows as Vulnerable Devices Proliferate 

  Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Stealing Ford Trade Secrets

• Akamai Employee Arrested, Accused of Trying to Sell Information to Foreign Government

Written By

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Join the session as we discuss the challenges and best practices for cybersecurity leaders managing cloud identities.

Register

SecurityWeek’s Ransomware Resilience and Recovery Summit helps businesses to plan, prepare, and recover from a ransomware incident.

Register

Expert Insights

Related Content

Cybercrime

Daniel Kelley was just 18 years old when he was arrested and charged on thirty counts – most infamously for the 2015 hack of...

Cybercrime

No one combatting cybercrime knows everything, but everyone in the battle has some intelligence to contribute to the larger knowledge base.

Cybercrime

The FBI dismantled the network of the prolific Hive ransomware gang and seized infrastructure in Los Angeles that was used for the operation.

Ransomware

The Hive ransomware website has been seized as part of an operation that involved law enforcement in 10 countries.

Privacy

Employees of Chinese tech giant ByteDance improperly accessed data from social media platform TikTok to track journalists in a bid to identify the source...

CISO Strategy

The SEC filed charges against SolarWinds and its CISO over misleading investors about its cybersecurity practices and known risks.

Cybercrime

A global cyber espionage campaign has resulted in the networks of many organizations around the world becoming compromised after the attackers managed to breach...

Ransomware

US government reminds the public that a reward of up to $10 million is offered for information on cybercriminals, including members of the Hive...