By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
A former Secret Service agent, who rose through the ranks to become a deputy assistant director, is on trial in federal court in Washington in what Bloomberg news reports is the first prosecution of a foreign bribery based on a government sting run inside the U.S.
Ex-agent R. Patrick Caldwell is on trial with five other security executives, Bloomberg reported.
Prosecutors in court on Wednesday accused Caldwell, the former chief executive officer of Protective Products of America Inc., with joining an illegal business deal by agreeing to make payments to an FBI agent posing as a representative of the west African country of Gabon, Bloomberg reported.
“Most corrupt deals are never discovered by law enforcement, but this time someone was watching and someone was recording the deal — the FBI,” Laura Perkins, a Justice Department trial attorney, told the jury, according to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reported that the trial is the second in a 22-defendant kick back scheme that involved a fake multi-million weapons deal.
Bloomberg reported that “it’s the biggest U.S. prosecution of individuals accused of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.”
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