According to a published indictment, federal prosecutors in Maryland had filed charges against a former senior executive of Bechtel Corp over money laundering and fraud. Asem Elgawhary allegedly received over $5 million in kickbacks from three power companies to grant them preferential treatment on contracts with an Egyptian government joint venture. The indictment revealed that the preferential treatment received by the three power companies helped them obtain over $2 billion worth of contracts.
US Justice Department criminal division acting assistant attorney general Mythili Raman said today in a statement, "(Besides collecting the kickbacks, Elgawhary allegedly concealed his scheme) by hiding the payments in off-shore bank accounts, giving false information to his former employer, and destroying evidence."
The court filing was made in the federal court located in Beltsville, Maryland, Bloomberg said in a report. The court filing also claimed that Elgawhary took place between the years 2003 to 2011. Around that time, Elgawhary was the general manager of the Power Generation Engineering and Services Co, or PGESCo, the joint venture of the Egyptian government's electricity company and Bechtel. Moreover, Elgawhary was also a principal vice president of the San Francisco-based company, the news agency added.
The indictment said PGESCo handles services in subcontracting for the government-owned firm. Elgawhary allegedly provided confidential information about the joint venture's bidding process for awards to the three companies in question in order to get kickbacks. Nadaq said in a separate report that the three power companies and their consultants paid out Elgawhary via several offshore accounts, which includes accounts in Swiss banks.
Elgawhary, said Nasdaq, also used one of his Swiss accounts with the bribe money to acquire a home in Maryland worth $1.78 million. Moreover, he allegedly falsely claimed that he only has one foreign account and rejected arguments that he received any funds from any bank account outside the US.
Elgawhary's lawyer, David Schertler of Schertler & Onorato LLP, has already denied the allegations and said that he is looking forward to defend his client in court.
