Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that RAYMOND WHITE, a/k/a “John Raymond Anthony White,” a/k/a “Raymond Alexander White,” pled guilty yesterday to a scheme in which he defrauded the government by submitting fraudulent documents and false information about himself, his company’s business, and his company’s finances in order to obtain a $4.8 million contract to build a munitions load crew training facility at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland (“Andrews Air Force Base”), and to obtain a bond guarantee from the United States Small Business Administration (“SBA”) in connection with the contract. WHITE also committed aggravated identity theft by using another person’s signature and Social Security number. WHITE pled guilty before United States District Judge Edgardo Ramos.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Despite a prior conviction by this Office, Raymond White continued to lie and fabricate information in order to line his own pockets. This time, White defrauded the government, submitting fraudulent documents and false information to obtain a nearly $5 million construction contract and to obtain a bond guarantee from the SBA in connection with the contract. This Office will continue to prosecute recidivist fraudsters until the message is clear and they have learned their lesson: committing financial fraud will lead to significant penalties.”
According to the Complaint, Superseding Indictment, public court filings, and statements made in court:
From in or about May 2019 through in or about September 2020, WHITE submitted a bid and related documents to the District of Columbia Army National Guard (“National Guard”) on a contract (the “Contract”) to build a munitions load crew training facility at Andrews Air Force Base. Prior to obtaining the Contract, WHITE provided the National Guard with fraudulent documents about himself and his company, Kochendorfer Group USA Inc., (“Kochendorfer”). WHITE submitted similar information to the SBA to obtain a guarantee from the SBA that was a requirement for obtaining the Contract.
The fraudulent documents that WHITE submitted to the National Guard and the SBA included a doctored bank account statement, fake reports from an accounting firm that WHITE had invented, and falsified financials. These documents purported to show that Kochendorfer had significant cash assets. In fact, Kochendorfer had virtually no money. WHITE also submitted a false resume and firm dossier, which described fictitious construction jobs and provided fake references. WHITE claimed, among other things, that he had overseen the construction of a World Cup soccer stadium in Brazil from 2012 to 2014 when in fact, WHITE was in federal prison during that time frame, serving a prison term on a prior fraud conviction. WHITE also lied to the SBA by denying that he had any prior criminal convictions. In furtherance of this fraud on the National Guard and the SBA, WHITE forged the signature of an attorney on a Kochendorfer letter and used another individual’s Social Security number on his SBA guarantee application.
Based on WHITE’s misrepresentations, the National Guard awarded the Contract to Kochendorfer and the SBA issued a guarantee. The National Guard terminated the Contract after discovering WHITE’s fraud, and no construction work was ever performed on the site. As a result of the Contract’s termination, the SBA has fulfilled multiple claims pursuant to the guarantee provided by the SBA.
In 2011, WHITE was convicted following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under the name “John Raymond Anthony White” for engaging in major fraud, mail fraud, false statements, and witness tampering. United States v. John Raymond Anthony White, S1 10 Cr. 516 (SHS). WHITE’s prior conviction arose out of his fraud in the procurement of four government contracts, for a scheme in which he falsely represented that he was a disabled veteran. As a result of his 2011 federal conviction, WHITE and his prior construction company, Mitsubishi Construction Corporation, were excluded from government contracting for a period of five years. The name that WHITE used in connection with the Contract — Raymond White — was different from the name he had used in connection with the government contracts at issue in his prior federal conviction.
WHITE, 58, of New York, New York, pled guilty to one count of major fraud against the United States, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; two counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; two counts of false statements and false writings, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a consecutive mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison.
The minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge. Sentencing is scheduled for May 23, 2023, at 11:00 a.m.
Mr. Williams praised the work of the Air Force Office of Procurement Fraud Investigations and Office of Special Investigations and the Army Major Procurement Fraud Unit in this investigation.
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