Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Guilty Plea Part of Ongoing US Probe Into Caltrans Bribery
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 3 years ago on
April 12, 2022

Share

 

A former contract manager for California’s transportation agency pleaded guilty Monday in what federal prosecutors said is an ongoing investigation into a bid rigging and bribery scam involving millions of dollars worth of contracts.

Choon Foo “Keith” Yong agreed to cooperate with the investigation into what prosecutors said was a conspiracy to rig the competitive bidding process for improvement and repair contracts at California Department of Transportation facilities.

The scheme ensured that companies controlled by his co-conspirators submitted the winning bid and won the contracts, prosecutors said.

More Than $8 Million in Contracts

The contracts were cumulatively worth more than $8 million, and Yong’s agreement called for him to be awarded at least 10% of the value, according to his plea agreement.

He received cash bribes and other payments in the form of furniture, wine and remodeling services on his home, valued together at more than $800,000, prosecutors said.

He agreed to pay restitution as part of his plea deal in a scam that ran from early 2015 through late 2019, prosecutors said.

Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division described Yong’s guilty plea as “the first in the Antitrust Division’s ongoing investigation into bribery and bid rigging at Caltrans.”

“Caltrans takes these matters seriously and is fully cooperating with the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation. Because this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment further,” the agency said in a statement.

The plea deal says Yong worked with “Contractor A, Contractor B and other co-conspirators,” without naming them. He would “submit the agreed upon bidders’ names — which always included Contractor A” for consideration. Another company would submit a “sham bid” so that Contactor A or another co-conspirator’s company would win the contract.

Manager Retired from Caltrans in 2019

Contractor A would then pay money or provide other benefits to the co-conspirator bidders.

The agreement allowed Contractor A or another conspiring company “to win the Caltrans contracts at inflated prices,” according to the plea deal.

Yong was introduced to Company A in early 2015 by “Caltrans Employee A,” who then worked with him on the bid rigging, the plea deal says. He then paid her $500 a month in cash through at least early 2017 from his share of the take.

Yong retired from Caltrans in 2019, after starting work there in 1990, and the investigation began after his retirement, said his defense attorney, Tom Johnson.

“He’s looking forward to getting this behind him and moving on to the next chapter in his life. That’s why we entered the plea early,” Johnson said.

The joint investigation includes federal prosecutors and FBI investigators operating under the Justice Department’s Procurement Collusion Strike Force, created in November 2019. Kanter said its role has grown in importance since Congress last year approved the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Yong is set for sentencing in August. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison plus a $1 million fine or twice the financial loss.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence at the low end of the federal sentencing guidelines, plus an additional reduction for his cooperation.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

World’s Largest Almond Processor Will Shutter Sacramento Plant. 600 Workers Impacted

DON'T MISS

Trump Eyes Major Funding Cuts for California, Including All Public Universities

DON'T MISS

Farming Regulation Costs Rise 1,300% Since 2006: Cal Poly

DON'T MISS

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

DON'T MISS

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

DON'T MISS

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

DON'T MISS

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

DON'T MISS

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

DON'T MISS

FDA’s AI Assistant ‘Elsa’ Fails Its First Day on the Job

DON'T MISS

Documentary Series Goes Inside Trump’s Bubble

UP NEXT

Trump Eyes Major Funding Cuts for California, Including All Public Universities

UP NEXT

Farming Regulation Costs Rise 1,300% Since 2006: Cal Poly

UP NEXT

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

UP NEXT

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

UP NEXT

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

UP NEXT

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

UP NEXT

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

UP NEXT

FDA’s AI Assistant ‘Elsa’ Fails Its First Day on the Job

UP NEXT

Documentary Series Goes Inside Trump’s Bubble

UP NEXT

Tulare County Gang Member Convicted of Trying to a Murder Police Officer

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

11 hours ago

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

11 hours ago

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

12 hours ago

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

12 hours ago

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

12 hours ago

FDA’s AI Assistant ‘Elsa’ Fails Its First Day on the Job

12 hours ago

Documentary Series Goes Inside Trump’s Bubble

12 hours ago

Tulare County Gang Member Convicted of Trying to a Murder Police Officer

13 hours ago

Newsom Promises Funding to Jump-Start ‘Science of Reading’

13 hours ago

Feds Indict SoCal Hospice CEO for Medicare Fraud in Fresno and Kern Counties

14 hours ago

World’s Largest Almond Processor Will Shutter Sacramento Plant. 600 Workers Impacted

The world’s largest almond processor, Blue Diamond Growers, says it will close its Sacramento processing plant this year The almond co...

10 hours ago

10 hours ago

World’s Largest Almond Processor Will Shutter Sacramento Plant. 600 Workers Impacted

11 hours ago

Trump Eyes Major Funding Cuts for California, Including All Public Universities

11 hours ago

Farming Regulation Costs Rise 1,300% Since 2006: Cal Poly

12 hours ago

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

12 hours ago

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

13 hours ago

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

13 hours ago

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

13 hours ago

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend