CALIFORNIA – The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced August 20, that a Navy veteran has been charged with defrauding the Navy of over $9 million through bid-rigging and kickbacks involving a Navy insider.
Cory Taylor Wright, 49, of Columbus, Georgia, is charged with wire fraud.
In a separate filing, Wright agreed to plead guilty to the felony, which carries a maximum 20-year sentence, and to cooperate with federal prosecutors.
Wright is expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks.
According to his plea agreement, Wright served in the Navy from 1997 to 2017 and worked in the Mobile Utilities Support Equipment (MUSE) division at Port Hueneme from 2005 to 2017.
MUSE managed, supported, and maintained power systems, including large generators, for U.S. Department of Defense operations worldwide, including combat zones. MUSE worked with prime contractors, typically assigning task orders to subcontractors to fulfill its mission.
Rigged bids to secure subcontracts
In late 2016, near retirement, Wright and “Co-Conspirator 1” formed Georgia-based C&C Power Solutions LLC (CCP). Co-Conspirator 1, a Navy retiree in 2021, held influential MUSE positions, and the scheme ran from December 2016 to August 2022.
Wright and Co-Conspirator 1 agreed he’d become a 50% partner after retiring, and he promised to steer Navy contracts to CCP.
In return for steering contracts to CCP, Wright gave Co-Conspirator 1 cash kickbacks and other benefits, including payments to his sporting club. To fund CCP’s launch, Co-Conspirator 1 had contractors pay CCP for products and services never delivered.
After CCP launched, Wright and Co-Conspirator 1 rigged bids to secure subcontracts from a prime contractor.
For example, in 2017, for a $790,496 task order, Wright and Co-Conspirator 1 submitted fake bids with inflated costs to favor CCP’s lower bid.
Plotted to make CCP MUSE’s next prime contractor
Wright also created false invoices claiming CCP completed work for MUSE that it had not. This led the prime contractor to submit Wright’s false invoices, prompting the Navy to make payments.
Starting in September 2017, Wright and Co-Conspirator 1 plotted to make CCP MUSE’s next prime contractor, worth tens of millions.
They created fake documents, including a fraudulent performance questionnaire, to win the contract. They concealed Co-Conspirator 1’s role and financial stake in CCP, including his involvement in the successful Navy bid.
From July 2019 until the termination of three task orders in 2022 – 2023, Wright submitted false documents and invoices to obtain money CCP wasn’t owed.
Defrauded the Navy out of $9,128,515
In total, Wright and his co-schemers defrauded the Navy out of approximately $9,128,515.
The Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are investigating this matter.
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