A retired four-star Navy admiral who commanded thousands of officers in Europe, Russia and Africa was arrested Friday on charges of bribery involving government contracts.
According to the Department of Justice, Robert Burke is accused of giving contracts to two New York executives, Yongchul “Charlie” Kim and Megan Messenger, in exchange for future employment at their companies. Kim and Messenger were arrested Friday in connection with the scheme.
The Justice Department has not named the companies, but New York-based NextJump lists Kim and Messenger as co-chief executives on its website.
Federal officials said the company had been running a pilot program to train a small group of Navy personnel since August 2018. The Navy terminated the contract the following year and told the company not to contact Burke.
But during a meeting with the two co-CEOs in Washington, D.C., in July 2021, Burke agreed to use his position as a senior official to “steer a sole agent deal” with the company in exchange for future employment, court documents state.
The Justice Department said Burke, 62, of Coconut Creek, Florida, agreed to persuade other officers to award the company a new contract to train “a significant portion” of the Navy, a deal Kim estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The former Navy official is accused of covering up the alleged scheme by suggesting he had no role in issuing the contract and that he only began discussing job opportunities with the company months after the contract was awarded. Burke's lawyers have denied the alleged bribery scheme and told USA Today that Burke intends to stand trial.
Department of Justice: Burke received contract from company in exchange for future work
Five months after the Washington, D.C. meeting, Burke allegedly directed his subordinates to award the company a $355,000 contract to train officers under his command in Italy and Spain. The company provided the training in January 2022, federal officials said.
Federal authorities allege Burke began working for the company in October 2022 with a starting salary of $500,000.
Burke, Kim and Messenger are charged with bribery and bribery conspiracy. Burke is also charged with engaging in acts affecting a personal financial interest and concealing material facts from the United States. If convicted, Burke faces up to 30 years in prison, and Kim and Messenger each face up to 20 years in prison.
“There's no reward here.”
Attorney Timothy Parlatore said Burke denies the allegations and claims the Justice Department's information is inaccurate. Parlatore told USA Today that Burke did not deny meeting with company executives in July 2021, but said the content of the conversation was misrepresented.
“I think the information they're relying on is inaccurate because there's nothing in it to give back,” he said.
Parlatore said there was no relationship between the job offer and the contract given on behalf of the Navy other than that Burke believed in the product the Navy was providing and ultimately accepted the offer. Burke also allegedly updated his resume and continued to negotiate with other potential employees after his interview in Washington, D.C., indicating he had not already accepted the position through the alleged bribery scheme.
“We look forward to bringing this case before a jury and exonerating Admiral Burke of these false allegations,” Parlatore said.
NextJump did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment on Friday.
Suspicion of bribery of public officials
The charges announced Friday are the latest in a series of bribery allegations involving public officials.
Earlier this month, the Department of Justice announced charges of bribery and money laundering against Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and his wife. The couple allegedly accepted approximately $600,000 from an oil and gas company with ties to the Azerbaijan government and a Mexico City-based bank. The indictment accuses Cuellar of corruptly trying to sway U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan and using his influence in Congress to benefit the bank.
In January, two current and two former Massachusetts police officers were indicted on charges of a scheme to give passing marks on commercial driver's licenses in exchange for bribes. Prosecutors accused the officers of conspiring to falsify records and give preferential treatment to at least 17 commercial driver's license applicants. According to court records, the officers passed drivers who had failed the skills test and used a code word, “golden,” to identify such applicants.
Federal prosecutors in Tennessee indicted two U.S. Army soldiers at Fort Campbell in March on charges of selling national defense secrets to China, with Kolbein Schultz allegedly receiving $42,000 in 14 payments.
According to the U.S. Commission on Criminal Justice's 2020 report, bribery offenses fell 48% from 2016. Of the cases where penalties were increased, about half were because the convicted person was a public official, and 75% of the increased penalties involved multiple bribes, according to the report.
