MMGL 12-10-12: Pt 2 of 2, (Bizzare Workplace Experiences)

In this segment, I talked about a couple of bizarre workplace experiences of mine which involved a few people I worked with. The first involved money laundering, bribery, FBI, Grand Jury, sentencing, murder-suicide and arson.

Summary of the case (from DOT website)

FHWA Contractor Pleads Guilty to Bribery, Money-Laundering

October 06, 1998

Summary

Alberto Santiago, a former Federal Highway Administration official who resigned while under investigation, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Santiago, of Herndon, VA, was charged with conspiracy, bribery, and money-laundering; he faces up to 40 years in prison and $1 million in fines. Sentencing is pending. An OIG investigation, jointly carried out with the FBI, disclosed that between 1993 and 1997 Santiago solicited and received more than $150,000 in cash and money orders from government contractors over whom he had official responsibility, letting them submit fraudulent invoices to reimburse themselves for the illicit payments. In a related case, Hobih Chen, owner of the Viggen Corp. of Sterling, VA, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery and money-laundering. Chen’s firm was among those alleged to have paid bribes to Santiago. He faces up to 5 years’ imprisonment and $250,000 in fines. The investigation continues, and an audit of the facility where Santiago worked is under way.

The fallout from case – 10 years later (Washington Post article).

HERNDON

Man Killed Wife, Then Set Herndon Home Afire, Police Believe

By Tom Jackman

Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 4, 2009; 11:49 PM The identities of a married couple whose bodies were discovered inside their burning home in Herndon early Thursday were confirmed yesterday by Fairfax County police. Investigators believe that the husband stabbed his wife to death and then set their home on fire.

Ho Bih Chen, 55, and his wife, Chi-Lin Chen, 55, had raised their two children in the house on Eddyspark Drive, in the Kingstream neighborhood near Fairfax County Parkway, that they bought in 1987. Their children, a daughter who is a freshman in college and an older son, were not home when the fire was discovered by neighbors shortly before 4 a.m.

Although the fire was raging through the second floor of the colonial house when firefighters arrived, it did not take them long to extinguish the blaze, and they soon found the Chens’ bodies. Not long after the embers had cooled, fire marshals quickly determined that the blaze had been ignited from inside the house and almost certainly by one of the Chens.

An autopsy Friday revealed that Chi-Lin Chen died of stab wounds to the upper body, police said. Detectives theorize that Ho Bih Chen stabbed his wife and then torched the house, Officer Tawny Wright said.

Police declined to discuss a motive for the apparent murder-suicide or the family’s financial situation. Someone, possibly Ho Bih Chen, had moved two of the family’s vehicles away from the home before the fire, and they were found elsewhere in the Kingstream neighborhood, Wright said. Sources familiar with the case said the vehicles contained some of the family’s personal belongings and documents. (Full article)

The second case involved my former boss. He was forced out from the firm for inappropriate conduct. Later he was caught and convicted for possession of child pornography. In my 2+ years of interaction with him has mostly been positive and therefore I never suspected him of doing this. Bizarre world!

I also talked about the circumstances and the decision process for my career change.

Date of broadcast: 12-10-12

Audio language: Telugu

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