PROVIDENCE, R.I., April 18 (UPI) -- A contractor will admit a bribery scheme that cost the Navy $7 million to $20 million, the U.S. attorney for Rhode Island said Monday.
Anjan Dutta-Gupta of Roswell, Ga., founder of the defunct Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow in Middletown, R.I., will change his plea to guilty to bribery of a public official -- alleged accomplice Ralph Mariano -- April 28, said U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha.
Mariano was a civilian program manager and senior systems engineer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I.
Court documents filed Monday charge that Dutta-Gupta and the company paid millions to Mariano, his associates and shell companies since 1996, The Providence Journal reports.
The papers say subcontractor Russell Spencer, who has not been charged, allegedly was a conduit, paying more than $21,900 weekly to Mariano and Mariano's brother, Joseph; his girlfriend, Mary O'Rourke -- an ASFT vice president and lobbyist in Congress -- and others.
Mariano ran the hiring, firing and payment of friends ASFT, and Dutta-Gupta went along, the papers allege.
Dutta-Gupta was arrested Feb. 8 in Atlanta as he returned from Chile. He is free on $25,000 unsecured bond.
Mariano, awaiting trial, is free on $50,000 unsecured bond.
After the charges were filed, ASFT shut down.
