Former Government Contractor Executives Indicted for Unlawful Campaign Contributions

News Release from USDoJ, Feb 10, 2022

WASHINGTON – Three Hawaii-based executives of a government contractor were indicted today in the District of Columbia for allegedly making unlawful campaign contributions to a candidate for Congress and a political action committee.

According to the indictment, Martin Kao, 48, Clifford Chen, 48, and Lawrence “Kahele” Lum Kee, 52, all of Honolulu, were employed by a defense contractor prohibited from making contributions in federal elections. The defendants allegedly created a shell company and then used that shell company to make an illegal contribution to a political action committee supporting the election of a candidate for the U.S. Senate using government contractor funds. The defendants also allegedly used family members as conduits to make illegal contributions to the campaign committee of the same candidate, and then reimbursed themselves for those donations using funds obtained from their employer.

All three defendants are charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make conduit and government contractor contributions, making conduct contributions, and making government contractor contributions. Kao is also charged with two counts of making false statements for causing the submission of false information to the Federal Election Committee.

Kao, Chen and Lum Kee will make their initial appearance at a later date. If convicted, the defendants face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia, Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Christopher Dillard, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Mid-Atlantic Field Office, made the announcement.

The FBI’s Washington Field Office and DCIS’s Mid-Atlantic Field Office are investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Lauren Castaldi of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Liz Aloi and Joshua Rothstein of the Fraud, Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Flashback Sept 30, 2020: Navatek CEO Arrested for CARES Act Fraud--Got Help from 'Senator'

COVERAGE:

WaPo: Hawaii-contractors-charged-contributions-Collins

SA: Thursday’s indictment does not link a separate 2020 federal complaint in which Kao, former CEO and president of Martin Defense Group and founder of Navatek, was charged with bank fraud and money laundering of more than $12.8 million in CARES Act funds.

HNN: 3 former Hawaii-based contractors indicted for allegedly making illegal campaign donations

CB: Hawaii Defense Contractors Indicted For Illegal Campaign Contributions 

AP: Three former executives of a Hawaii-based defense contractor have been indicted on charges of funneling illegal donations to the reelection campaign of Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.