The Roswell founder of a naval defense company is expected to plead guilty Thursday to bribing a public official so he could misappropriate money from the federal government.
Anjan Dutta-Gutpa, 58, is scheduled to admit to his role in a multi-million dollar kickback scheme at a U.S. Navy research lab in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island.
His plea agreement shows he funneled more than $9 million to a civilian Navy employee in exchange for increased funding for contracts to his now-defunct company, Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow (ASTF).
The scam, according to the plea agreement, has cost the federal government between $7 million and $20 million.
A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha in Providence declined to comment further Wednesday, only to say that the investigation is ongoing.
An attorney for Dutta-Gupta in Providence referred calls to a second attorney in Washington, D.C. That lawyer did not return calls on Wednesday.
Court documents show the scheme dates back to 1996, when a civilian senior systems engineer at the submarine research lab demanded ASTF pay him $6,000 per week.
Dutta-Gupta says in his plea agreement that Ralph Mariano, 52, told him that without the payments, the firm would no longer receive funding from the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).
Most of the employees of ASTF, which was headquartered in Roswell, worked out of a Rhode Island office providing systems engineering and program support. In February, ASTF held more than $128 million in Navy contracts.
Dutta-Gupta says in his statement that he agreed to the payments by having Mariano increase the Navy’s payment to an ASFT worker’s salary. Mariano then pocketed the raise.
The amount being paid to Mariano increased over time, up to nearly $22,000 a week by late last year.
Records show that Dutta-Gupta and his firm paid at more than $4 million to Mariano and another $4 million to his associates and family. About $1.2 million was sent back to companies owned by Dutta-Gupta.
The payments continued until February, when prosecutors arrested both men on bribery charges.
Mariano has since been freed on a $50,000 unsecured bond while awaiting trial.
Dutta-Gupta also has been free on bond. By his agreeing to enter a plea and help with the prosecution of Mariano and others, court records show prosecutors will recommend a lesser sentence than the maximum of 15 years in prison. A federal judge will set the sentence.
The scheme has rippled across the defense industry and into the U.S. Navy.
More than 100 employees lost their jobs when ASFT shut down its Roswell and Rhode Island operations. The company has since filed for bankruptcy.
The Navy first suspended and then terminated its contracts with ASTF after Dutta-Gupta and Mariano were charged. A high-level panel is also investigating the case for its possible effects on the branch’s contracting procedures.
On Tuesday, NAVSEA also issued a press release announcing it would strip the research lab, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, of its power to issue contracts.
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