Military contractor sentenced for taking bribes in Afghanistan

Orlando Clark, 57, of Smyrna in Georgia, was deployed to Afghanistan to evaluate bids for US-funded reconstruction contracts in 2011 and 2012.

The Department of Justice said Clark and co-conspirator Todd Coleman, an analyst at a different US company, accepted payments of around $400,000 from an Afghan company in return for helping it to win around 10 contracts, including one to build an Afghan police station and a security checkpoint for US forces.

To conceal their conduct, Clark and Coleman registered fictitious companies in Georgia and opened bank accounts to which bribes were sent via wire transfers from Afghanistan.

Clark and Coleman also created false invoices to make it appear as though they were involved in a car-exporting business in the UAE. In reality, Clark and Coleman used the bribe payments to purchase personal items, such as BMWs.

During the scheme, Coleman and Clark also travelled to the UAE to receive cash bribes, which they then smuggled into the US.

In addition, between 2015 and 2020, Clark also received bribes to sign false letters of recommendation for visas for Afghan nationals who worked as translators with US forces in Afghanistan.

Coleman, 48, of South Deerfield in Massachusetts, was sentenced in February to two years and nine months in prison for his role in the schemes.

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