A former Department of Defense contracting official who exchanged $28 million in contracts for $500,000 in bribes while working in Iraq is heading to prison, according to the Department of Justice.
James Edward Addas, 55, was working as a contracting official at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in 2004, when the CEO of an unnamed Jordan-based contracting company offered to pay him $1 million in return for Addas’ help getting U.S. government electrical construction contracts in Iraq.
The contractor made an initial $50,000 cash payment to Addas in a paper sack delivered inside the “Green Zone” of the U.S. Embassy compound, then wired an additional $455,000 to Addas. The contractor also bought him items worth $70,000.
The contracting company, which the DOJ didn’t name, received at least 15 contracts through its relationship with Addas. Addas didn’t include any of the income on his taxes.
Addas, from Stafford, Virginia, recently pleaded guilty to charges of bribery and tax evasion. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Friday.
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