POSTAL SERVICE CONTRACTING OFFICER INDICTED FOR ALLEGED ROLL IN BRIBERY AND KICKBACK SCHEME

FROM:   U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Former Contracting Officer and Contractor Charged with Bribery Scheme in Connection with Awarding of U.S. Postal Service Contracts

A former U.S. Postal Service contracting officer, along with a mail delivery contractor, were indicted today for engaging in a scheme to defraud the Postal Service through bribery and kickbacks in connection with the awarding of contracts to deliver the mail.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein of the District of Maryland and Inspector General David C. Williams of the U.S. Postal Service made the announcement.

Gregory Cooper, 59, of Glenn Dale, Maryland, a former U.S. Postal Service Contracting Officer Representative and Purchasing and Supply Management Specialist, and Barbara Murphy, 51, of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the owner and operator of MC&G Trucking LLC and ER&R Transportation, were charged today in a ten-count indictment unsealed in the District of Maryland.  Both Cooper and Murphy are charged with one count of conspiracy and five counts of honest services wire fraud, and each is separately charged in a single count of bribery.  Cooper is also charged with one count of executing a false document and one count of making false statements.

According to the indictment, from January 2011 through July 2012, Cooper allegedly solicited and accepted bribes and kickbacks from Murphy in exchange for helping her win contracts for delivery of the mail.  Specifically, the indictment alleges that Cooper accepted, among other things, cash deposits into his checking account, payments against his car loan and cell phone bills and a college tuition payment on behalf of his daughter.  In exchange, Cooper allegedly assumed the responsibility for reviewing the contracts on which Murphy bid from his subordinates, recommended that Murphy be awarded nine Postal Service contracts worth $1.5 million, provided Murphy with confidential bid information and assumed direct oversight over Murphy’s contracts from his subordinates.  The indictment further alleges that Cooper made false statements to investigators regarding his allegedly corrupt relationship with Murphy and executed a false financial disclosure document failing to disclose the bribes he had accepted from Murphy.

The charges and allegations contained in the indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General.  The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Maria Lerner and Mark Cipolletti of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Arun Rao of the District of Maryland.