Jersey City Contractor Pleads Guilty to Bribing a VA Official | WPN World People News

A Jersey City, New Jersey contractor admitted that he bribed a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) official so that two companies with which he was affiliated could obtain favorable treatment from the VA, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced.

Hitesh Desai, 42, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper to an information charging him with one count of bribing a federal public official by promising to make $5,000 in corrupt payments in exchange for official action.

Desai was a contractor who worked on various construction projects for the VA. In 2012, Desai became affiliated with two businesses that were applying to be placed on a VA list known as the Multiple Award Task Order Contract (MATOC). Certain lucrative VA construction projects were available only to contractors who were placed on the MATOC list. Between October 2012 and February 2013, Desai offered and promised to make a $5,000 bribe payment to an official who worked at the VA, whom Desai understood to be responsible for serving on a committee that would determine which contractors were placed on the MATOC list, in exchange for the official’s official assistance in placing the two businesses with which Desai was affiliated on the list. On October 18, 2012 and December 6, 2012, Desai made two cash payments, totaling $1,000, to the aforementioned official in exchange for the official’s official assistance in placing the two businesses with which he was affiliated on the VA’s MATOC list.

The count to which Desai pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and twice the aggregate loss to victims or gain to the defendant or three times the amount of the bribe payments. Sentencing is scheduled for October 2, 2013.

Source: U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation