WASHINGTON, March 25 (UPI) -- An ex-Maryland sanitation official and a contractor pleaded guilty Thursday in a kickback scheme, the Justice Department said.
The ex-official worked at the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission in Laurel, Md.
Joseph R. Jackson, a former supervisor in the WSSC's Information Technology Section, and Arvind K. Agarwal, a contract computer consultant, each could face up to five years in prison.
The charges in Greenbelt, Md., said Jackson and Agarwal circumvented the competitive contracting process in Agarwal's favor, and inflated invoices submitted by Agarwal between November 1999 and October 2001.
Jackson received more than $30,000 from Agarwal or from third parties for money due Agarwal, the department said. In return, Jackson recommended the contractor receive additional contracts at higher hourly rates, the department said.
The scheme cost the WSSC at least $75,000 in excessive payments to Agarwal via interstate wire transfers, the department said.
The WSSC is a quasi-governmental agency that provides drinking and waste water services in the Washington suburbs of Prince George's and Montgomery Counties.
