The former head of security for a Pentagon agency that defends the country from nuclear and biological attacks was indicted on Friday for allegedly conspiring to steer large government contracts to a company that he helped start, according to federal court documents.
James E. Wright, the ex-chief of the Security and Counterintelligence Directorate for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency at Fort Belvoir, and John D. Villanueva, a U.S. Department of Defense contractor, were charged by a federal grand jury in Alexandria with conspiracy and committing an act affecting personal financial interest.
A month after Wright, Villanueva, and a man identified in the court documents at Luis M. formed the company VMW Inc., Wright took actions to steer a $450,000 contract to another company, ZKD, Inc., which subcontracted the work to VMW, documents said.
DTRA was expected to award a $9.1 million contract for the same type of services, documents said.
To hide Wright’s financial interest in the company, prosecutors said Wright sent a resignation letter to his partners and asked that his shares be transferred to his wife.
“That was the best resignation letter I have ever seen. It almost brought tears to my eyes,” Villanueva allegedly responded in an e-mail, according to court documents. “We’re doing the right thing… We will become a very dominant force in this arena… Six to 12 months of exile is worth it.”
After Wright determined that ZKD deserved the contract, Wright expressed concern about future Defense Threat Reduction Agency contracts coming under scrutiny and transferred his company shares to his son, who has a different last name than Wright, documents said.
“This would have masked my involvement to a greater extent,” Wright allegedly wrote in an e-mail to Villanueva.
