Former Department of Defense Employee Pleads Guilty to Making False Statement

WASHINGTON – A former Department of Defense employee has pleaded guilty in federal court in Washington, D.C., to a false statement charge for failing to disclose on his annual financial disclosure report cash payments made to his wife, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division announced today.

Chang S. Yi, 40, pleaded guilty at a hearing today before the Hon. Royce C. Lamberth, U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia.

As part of his plea, Yi, 40, admitted that he failed to disclose cash payments made to his wife on his annual financial disclosure report. Specifically, Yi admitted that he was formerly employed by the United States Army as a contracting officer for the U.S. Army Contract Command–Korea (USA-CCK) and stationed in Seoul, Korea. Yi’s duties included overseeing the planning, bidding, and award process for numerous government contracts, and among the contracts Yi worked on was a contract to provide security guard services at a USA-CCK facility in Seoul. Yi maintained a personal relationship with an individual, identified in plea documents as Person A, who was employed by the Korean company that bid on and won the contract. In July 2003, Yi admitted, his wife accepted at least $7,100 from the wife of Person A. The money was used to purchase airfare from Seoul to Bangkok, Thailand. Yi, his wife, Person A, and his wife later traveled to Bangkok together. When Yi filed his financial disclosure report covering this time period, he failed to disclose the money received from Person A’s wife.

The charge of making false statements carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for March 7, 2008.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Internal Revenue Service–Criminal Investigation Division. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney John P. Pearson of the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, headed by Section Chief William M. Welch II.