The Justice Department (DOJ) revealed in a statement that they arrested a former US Navy vice chief of naval operations on Friday on allegations of accepting bribes to funnel government contracts to a corporation in exchange for a future position while still in service.
The unsealed indictment charged retired Navy Adm. Robert Burke, 62, of Coconut Creek, Fla., and two company executives, Yongchul “Charlie” Kim and Meghan Messenger, both of New York, with bribery and conspiracy to conduct bribery.
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The DOJ statement also charges Burke with “performing acts affecting a personal financial interest and concealing material facts from the United States.”
If convicted, Burke faces a possible sentence of 30 years in jail, while Kim and Messenger each risk a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Burke, who previously served on attack and ballistic missile submarines, climbed through the ranks to become the 40th deputy chief of naval operations in June 2019 before taking leadership of the U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa and Allied Joint Forces in June 2020.
Kim and Messenger, meanwhile, were co-CEOs of a company known as “Company A” by the Justice Department, which supplied a workforce training pilot program to a tiny component of the Navy between August 2018 and July 2019. NextJump’s website lists Charlie Kim and Meghan Messenger as co-CEOs.
The Navy terminated its contract with Company A in late 2019 and instructed it not to contact Burke.
In July 2021, however, when Burke was managing hundreds of Navy civilians and military people in Europe and Africa, Kim and Messenger allegedly met with him in Washington, D.C., in an attempt to revive Company A’s business ties with the Navy, according to the statement.
“At the meeting, the charged defendants allegedly agreed that Burke would use his position as a Navy Admiral to steer a sole-source contract to Company A in exchange for future employment at the company,” according to the Justice Department. “They allegedly further agreed that Burke would use his official position to influence other Navy officers to award another contract to Company A to train a large portion of the Navy, with a value Kim allegedly estimated to be “triple digit millions.’”
Several months later, in December 2021, Burke reportedly directed his Navy staff to award the company a $355,000 contract to teach personnel under his command in Italy and Spain, according to the statement.
Company A then conducted the training in January 2022, and shortly thereafter, Burke allegedly marketed the firm in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade a senior Navy admiral to award the company another contract.
“To conceal the scheme, Burke allegedly made several false and misleading statements to the Navy, including creating the false appearance that Burke played no role in issuing the contract and falsely implying that Company A’s employment discussions with Burke only began months after the contract was awarded,” said the statement.
Burke began working for Company A in October 2022, following his retirement in the summer of that year, with a salary of $500,000 and 100,000 stock options.
Navy spokesperson Rear Adm. Ryan Perry stated that the military has fully cooperated with the probe since its inception.
“We take this issue extremely seriously and will continue to work with the Department of Justice. “As this is an ongoing legal case, we would refer you to the DOJ for any additional information,” Perry said in a statement to The Hill.
