Source: www.usdoj.gov\opa\pr\1999\November\559crm.htm

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1999

FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL AND WIFE INDICTED IN CORRUPTION SCHEME

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Federal Highway Administration contracting official and his wife were indicted today on charges of bribery, fraud and participating in a scheme to use his official office for their personal benefit.

The indictment, returned in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, charges James Clark, 47, of Herndon, Virginia, with bribery, mail and wire fraud and paying a kickback. His wife, Brenda Clark, 41, who is not employed with the federal government, was charged in the same indictment with mail and wire fraud and paying a kickback.

The indictment alleges James Clark had authority over Federal Highway Administration contractors who performed transportation research and engineering projects under multi-million dollar government contracts. The indictment charges that the Clarks solicited those contractors for more than $170,000 in personal loans and consulting contracts, and used a series of pass-through companies and a business name to conceal their activity.

According to the indictment, James Clark used his official position with the Federal Highway Administration to benefit the contractors who they solicited; secretly steering a $19 million contract to one contractor, and arranging more than $100,000 in consulting work for another.

The indictment also charges that the Clarks paid a $5,000 kickback to a government contractor in exchange for his awarding them a $49,000 consulting contract from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

James Clark faces up to 75 years in prison and a $2 million in fines. His wife faces up to 30 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines.

The prosecution is being handled by the Public Integrity Section of the Department of Justice, and the investigation is being conducted by the Washington Field Office of the FBI and the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Transportation.

The indictment is part of a continuing investigation into corruption at the Federal Highway Administration.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.