Government Contracts Monitor

Sending Your Ex-Wife a Package of Cash from Afghanistan May Get You in Trouble

March 21, 2013

In United States v. Garst, No. 12-40109-01-JAR (D. Kansas), an Army veteran and private contractor in Afghanistan was sentenced to 30 months in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $52,117 fine for his role in a kickback scheme with an Afghan contracting company. 

Donald Garst, 51, who was in the Army for 4 years and the National Guard for 23 years, was a manager for a private sector contracting company doing business with the U.S. at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.  His job was to evaluate subcontracts awarded to Afghan companies.  Garst met Abdul Mukhtar Abdul Kubar (Mukhtar), the owner of an Afghan contracting company and agreed to steer subcontracts to Mukhtar in exchange for money.  Garst agreed to receive $610,000 in kickbacks, but only actually received $210,000. The scheme was discovered when Garst attempted to send $150,000 in cash to his ex-wife via DHL overnight service.  The package was confiscated and Garst quickly confessed to the kickback scheme.  

In its Sentencing Memorandum, the government sought a prison sentence of between 30-37 months based on the Sentencing Guidelines. The government noted in its sentencing memorandum that Garst had criminal justice contacts as a civilian and in the military and was discharged "under other than honorable conditions."   Importantly, although none of the prior criminal contacts qualified for criminal history points under the Sentencing Guidelines, the government asserted that "they paint a picture of an individual willing to violate the law to enrich himself, and suggest the instant conduct is not an aberration."

The Court ultimately sentenced Garst to the low-end of the Sentencing Guidelines and imposed a $52,117 fine. The case demonstrates the obvious:   you should not take kickbacks related to federal contracts, but also demonstrates what should have been more obvious: don't try to ship $150,000 by overnight delivery to your ex-wife.

 

Brian Stolarz is the attorney responsible for the content of this article.