Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s OfficeDistrict of New Jersey
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, December 17, 2020
NEWARK, N.J. – A New Jersey man today admitted that he paid a foreign official $100,000 in bribes to secure an improper business advantage and to obtain and retain business contracts, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr. of the FBI’s Newark Field Office announced.
Deck Won Kang, 50, of Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi to an information charging him with violating the anti-bribery provision of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:
From January 2009 to February 2013, Kang was a citizen of the United States, a resident of New Jersey, and an officer, director, employee, and agent of two closely held New Jersey companies. The companies obtained and retained contracts with the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), which was a state-owned and state-controlled agency within the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of National Defense. Kang promised a high-ranking official in the Korean Navy and a procurement official for DAPA that he would provide him with something of value once he left public office. Kang made this promise to: (1) to secure an improper business advantage, specifically obtaining non-public information about the contracts; (2) aid the companies in obtaining and retaining the contracts; and (3) to induce the foreign official to use his influence with the Korean Navy and DAPA to affect and influence a decision of DAPA concerning the companies obtaining and retaining the contracts. Kang caused $100,000 to be sent to the foreign official between April 2012 and February 2013.
The charge of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a fine of the greater of $250,000, twice the gross profits to Kang or twice the gross loss suffered by the victim. Sentencing is scheduled for April 21, 2021.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI’s Newark Division with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of the District of New Jersey and Trial Attorney Della Sentilles of the Fraud Section of the Department of Justice. U.S. Attorney Carpenito also thanked the Department of Justice Office of International Affairs for its assistance with the case.
Defense counsel: Robert Mintz Esq. and Geoffrey Rosamond Esq., Newark