Former DOJ Contractor Pleaded Guilty to Wire Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

On December 8, 2021, a former DOJ contractor, who had previously been awarded contracts with the FBI and BOP, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.  Kentey Fielder pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Washington.  According to the factual statement in support of the guilty plea, from in or about July 2015 through in or about November 2015, Fielder fraudulently registered his company in the System for Award Management (SAM), which is the primary registrant database for federal contractors, by falsely claiming that he was not presently debarred from doing business with the U.S. Government.  Fielder thereafter used the false SAM registration to be awarded a U.S. Army contract for janitorial services, caused another company to believe that it had been awarded the same contract, and collected over $14,000 on the contract while the other company performed the work.  The investigation is being conducted by the OIG’s Fraud Detection Office.