A retired Navy Admiral and two business executives were arrested today on criminal charges related to their roles in a bribery scheme involving a U.S. government contract.
As alleged in an indictment unsealed today, from 2020 to 2022, Robert Burke, 62, of Coconut Creek, Florida, was a four-star Admiral who oversaw Naval operations in Europe, Russia, and most of Africa. He commanded thousands of civilian and military personnel. Yongchul “Charlie” Kim and Meghan Messenger, both of New York, are the co-CEOs of a company (Company A) that provided a workforce training pilot program to a small component of the Navy from August 2018 through July 2019. The Navy terminated a contract with Company A in late 2019 and directed Company A not to contact Burke.
Despite the Navy’s instructions, Kim and Messenger then allegedly met with Burke in Washington, D.C., in July 2021 in an effort to reestablish Company A’s business relationship with the Navy. At the meeting, the charged defendants allegedly agreed that Burke would use his position as a Navy Admiral to steer a sole-source contract to Company A in exchange for future employment at the company. They allegedly further agreed that Burke would use his official position to influence other Navy officers to award another contract to Company A to train a large portion of the Navy with a value Kim allegedly estimated to be “triple digit millions.”
In furtherance of the conspiracy, in December 2021, Burke allegedly ordered his staff to award a $355,000 contract to Company A to train personnel under Burke’s command in Italy and Spain. Company A performed the training in January 2022. Thereafter, Burke allegedly promoted Company A in a failed effort to convince a senior Navy Admiral to award another contract to Company A. To conceal the scheme, Burke allegedly made several false and misleading statements to the Navy, including by creating the false appearance that he played no role in issuing the contract and falsely implying that Company A’s employment discussions with him only began months after the contract was awarded.
In October 2022, Burke began working at Company A at a yearly starting salary of $500,000 and received a grant of 100,000 stock options.
Burke, Kim, and Messenger are each charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery. Burke is also charged with performing acts affecting personal financial interest and concealing material facts from the United States. If convicted, Burke faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison; Kim and Messenger each face up to 20 years.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri; U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia; Deputy Director Grant A. Fleming of DCIS; Special Agent Stanley A. Newell of DCIS Transnational Operations Field Office; Special Agent Greg Gross of NCIS Economic Crimes Field Office; and Assistant Director Michael D. Nordwall of FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division made this announcement.
DCIS, NCIS, and FBI are investigating this case.
Trial Attorneys Trevor Wilmot and Kathryn E. Fifield from Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Rothstein for District of Columbia are prosecuting this case.
An indictment is merely an allegation; all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in court.
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