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by Associated Press
08/25/2006
A former U.S. Army Reserve officer
admitted Friday that he steered millions of dollars in
Iraq-reconstruction contracts in exchange for jewelry, computers, cigars
and sexual favors.
Bruce D. Hopfengardner, 46, of
Spotsylvania, Va., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money
laundering and wire fraud.
Hopfengardner served as a special
adviser to the U.S.-led occupation forces, recommending funding for
projects on law enforcement facilities in Iraq.
He admitted conspiring with Philip
H. Bloom, a U.S. citizen with businesses in Romania, Robert J. Stein, a
former Defense Department contract official, and others to create a
corrupt bidding process that included the theft of $2 million in
reconstruction money.
Hopfengardner is the first military
officer to plead guilty in the conspiracy. Bloom and Stein already have
pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the scheme.
Hopfengardner's role was to
recommend that the Coalition Provisional Authority fund projects to
demolish the Ba'ath Party headquarters, rebuild a police academy and
construct various other facilities.
Bloom, who controlled companies in
Iraq and Romania, bid on projects using dummy corporations and Stein
ensured that one of the firms was awarded the contract, according to
court documents.
The businessman allegedly showered
Hopfengardner and Stein with cash, cars, premium airline seats, jewelry,
alcohol and even sexual favors from women at his Baghdad villa.
"A Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S.
Army today admits to a disturbing abuse of his position, in scheming
with others to defraud the government for their own personal and
financial gain," Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher said in a
prepared statement.
Court papers said Hopfengardner
demanded that Bloom pay for a white 2004 GMC Yukon Denali with a
sandstone interior. At Hopfengardner's request, Bloom also allegedly
paid the air fare for Hopfengardner and his wife to travel from San
Francisco to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., while he was on leave in January
2004.
E-mails that prosecutors made public
in April show that Bloom told his employees to spare no expense in
satisfying the officials who controlled contracts in the CPA's regional
office in Hillah, about 50 miles south of Baghdad.
As part of the plea agreement,
Hopfengardner surrendered a car, a Harley Davidson motorcycle, camera
equipment, a Breitling watch valued at $5,700 and a computer. He also
agreed to forfeit $144,500, prosecutors said.
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