Great Falls Resident Pleads Guilty to Providing Gratuities to Federal Contracting Official

Great Falls resident Harry I. Martin, Jr., the former owner, president and chief executive officer of an information technology company, Intelligent Decisions, Inc., pled guilty this week to a federal charge stemming from gratuities that he and his company provided to a former contracting official with the U.S. Department of the Army in return for preferential treatment and government contracts, according to a news release from the FBI.

Martin has led the company since its founding in 1988 and resigned from the company, headquartered in Ashburn, last month, according to the Washington Business Journal.

The company has agreed to pay a $300,000 criminal penalty for its conduct, the FBI noted. The company was charged with one count of paying a gratuity to a public official.

Martin, 56, of Great Falls, agreed to fully cooperate in an ongoing federal investigation. Martin entered the guilty plea Monday before the Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He is to be sentenced on March 6, 2015.

Martin is the 20th individual to plead guilty in an investigation into domestic bribery, bid-rigging and federal contracting. His business colleague, Chae Shim, the director of Acquisition Accounts, Asia/Pacific, for Intelligent Decisions, pled guilty on Nov. 6, to the same federal charge as Martin stemming from gratuities that Shim and others at Intelligent Decisions, including Martin, provided to the former Army contracting official in return for preferential treatment and government contracts. Shim, 47, of Reston, is to be sentenced March 20, 2015.

To date, the United States has seized for forfeiture or recovered over $9 million in bank account funds, cash and repayments, as well as 19 real properties, nine cars and multiple pieces of fine jewelry.

The guilty plea and deferred prosecution agreement involve gratuities provided to In Seon Lim, a former contracting official for the U.S. Department of the Army. Lim, 48, of Fairfax Station, pled guilty in July 2014, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, to federal charges stemming from a scheme in which he accepted over $490,000 worth of benefits, including cash payments and vacations, from favored contractors, including Intelligent Decisions, Inc.

In return, he helped these businesses obtain millions of dollars in federal contracts and subcontracts. Lim, who pled guilty to bribery and two other federal offenses, was sentenced on Oct. 24 to a four-year prison term.

“A corporate CEO has now become the 20th person to plead guilty in this bribery and bid-rigging investigation,” said U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen. “He joins a long list of public officials and government contractors held accountable for corrupting the integrity of the federal contracting system. This CEO and his company rigged the competition for military contracts by plying an Army official with meals, drinks, entertainment, and golf outings. The fate of this CEO and his company should encourage other contractors to steer clear of crooked dealings.”

According to the government’s evidence, Martin, Shim, and the company provided Lim with thousands of dollars in meals, drinks, entertainment, golf outings and golf equipment, in return for preferential treatment and the direction of Army subcontracts to the firm.

All told, Intelligent Decisions spent over $10,000 on a variety of expenses, including dinners, golf outings, and other events attended by Lim, who was joined by company officials and others, while one of its employees agreed to pay for a Lexus ES350 automobile worth over $30,000 for Lim.

At the time of this conduct, Lim was an assistant project manager and product director with the Program Executive Office Enterprise Information Systems, a part of the Army that provides infrastructure and informational management systems. Working in South Korea, Lim’s primary duties were to oversee and implement communications systems upgrades for the U.S. forces there, which included approximately 10 communications centers and various other special projects at military sites throughout the country. Among other things, Lim coordinated work on a major contract, which, in turn, had numerous sub-contracts.

According to the government’s evidence, prior to the awarding of the sub-contracts, Martin and Shim traveled to South Korea in January 2009 to meet with Lim. They provided him with a dinner, drinks, and entertainment. They followed up on the meeting with e-mails expressing their desire for Intelligent Decisions, Inc., to work with him.

Later in January 2009, with Lim’s assistance, the company was awarded two subcontracts. One had an initial value of $525,000, and the other had a value of $67,294.

Over the ensuing months, Martin, Shim, and the company provided Lim with additional meals, entertainment, golf outings, and other benefits. Meanwhile, modifications were made to the sub-contracts increasing their value. The lengths of the two sub-contracts were expanded, along with their value. The $525,000 contract eventually climbed to a value of $3.2 million, and the $67,294 contract later became worth $1.3 million.