Defense contractor accused of bilking Navy out of $50 million
Federal agents are investigating a corruption case in which a defense contractor is accused of cheating the U.S. Navy out of at least $50 million.
Between 2011 and 2018, federal agents say, Frank Rafaraci, the contractor and CEO of Multinational Logistics Services (MLS), reportedly overcharged the Navy for port services and cheated them of at least $50 million, according to The Washington Post.
The Department of Justice is working to extradite the contractor after his arrest last week in Malta, according to court documents obtained by the Post.
Since 2010, the Navy and other federal organizations have provided MLS with $1.3 billion in contracts to service U.S. warships in the Middle East, Asia and other foreign places, the Post said.
In one of the instances of corruption, MLS charged the Navy for more than $231,000 in “port authority fees,” but court documents showed that the port authority in Manama only required $12,686, according to the Post.
He gave the official $20,000 in cash and told that person to “keep up the good work” at the 2015 meeting and provided the same official with $13,500 at their 2018 encounter, the Post reported.
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