Harold Babb, director of contracts for EyakTek, was arrested yesterday as part of an FBI bust on contractor fraud.
EyakTek is party of the Eyak Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation. ANCs are special companies owned, technically, by tribesmen of Alaska Native tribes. The late Sen. Ted Stevens created this designation and created all sorts of special legal treatment for the corporations, especially in federal contracting.
As you might guess, this set-up is rife for abuse. These companies are often run by or represented by former Stevens staffers and allies, as well as ex-aides and donors to other Alaska heavyweights like Frank and Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young. I wrote about this whole arrangement during Lisa Murkowski’s write-in candidacy last year.
The ANCs are part of a broader “Alaska Mafia” of lobbyists and consultants. Eyak Corporation didn’t show up in my digging around some of Mafia’s tawdry arrangements, but they did fit into the Alaska Mafia pattern by retaining until 2006 the K Street lobbying firm Birch Horton, which has employed three Lisa Murkowski staffers and a Stevens aide at least.
EyakTek, the FBI alleges, acted as something of a passthrough to an unnamed “Company A.” Right now it looks like Babb, if he did what he was accused of doing, was a rogue. Here’s a company statement as quoted by the Alaska Dispatch:
“Eyak and its shareholders will not tolerate this type of conduct by anyone employed by or associated with an Eyak company,” Worl added. “We take pride in the dedication of our employees and the services that we provide the government.”
