Former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Employee Pleads Guilty To Disclosing Sensitive...

Former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Employee Pleads Guilty To Disclosing
Sensitive Procurement Information

WASHINGTON, July 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A former employee of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers pleaded guilty to providing sensitive contract
information to a bidder seeking to win a multi-billion dollar government
contract, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal
Division announced today.

David M. Honbo, 60, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for
the District of Columbia to one count of violating the Procurement Integrity
Act. Honbo admitted he provided bid evaluation information to a consultant
employed by a multinational consortium trying to obtain the lucrative contract
to relocate the U.S. Army base in Yongsan, South Korea. Honbo's plea was
accepted by the Honorable Rosemary M. Collyer, U.S. District Judge for the
District of Columbia, and sentencing was set for Oct. 30, 2008. Honbo faces
up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 at sentencing.

As part of his plea, Honbo admitted that while stationed in South Korea as a
civilian employee of the Army Corps of Engineers he worked on the team charged
with awarding the Yongsan base contract. As a result of his position he had
access to source selection and bid evaluation information. Honbo admitted
that in August 2006, he provided sensitive bid evaluation
information--including confidential evaluations of responses to the
government's requests for qualifications (RFQ)--to a consultant Honbo knew was
working for one of the potential bidders. Honbo also admitted that he gave
the consultant the information in order to give that potential bidder a
competitive advantage. When initially questioned by investigators from the
U.S. Army's Criminal Investigations Division, Honbo lied about his actions.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division in
support of the Department of Justice's National Procurement Fraud Task Force.
The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Richard B. Evans and John P.
Pearson of the Criminal Division's Public Integrity Section, headed by Section
Chief William M. Welch II.

The National Procurement Fraud Initiative is designed to promote the early
detection, identification, prevention and prosecution of procurement fraud
associated with the increase in contracting activity for national security and
other government programs. The National Procurement Fraud Task force is
currently chaired by Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich for
the Criminal Division.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2007, TDD: +1-202-514-1888