Local Navy Contractor Charged in Federal Kickback Case

A Middletown defense contractor is facing federal criminal charges following an investigation into millions of dollars in kickbacks that allegedly involved the company's founder and president, a civilian Navy employee, and the employee's family and associates.

Criminal complaints and supporting affidavits unsealed in U.S. District Court in Providence allege that Ralph Mariano, 52, of Arlington, VA, a civilian program manager and senior systems engineer with the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) in Newport, and Anjan Dutta-Gupta, 58, of Roswell, GA, founder and president of Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow (ASFT) participated in a kickback and bribery scheme in which Dutta-Gupta funneled approximately $10 million dollars to Mariano, Mariano’s relatives, and Mariano’s associates in return for Mariano’s role in the funding of Naval contracts to ASFT, according to a Department of Justice press release issued Tuesday. ASFT has offices in Middletown and is headquartered in Roswell, Georgia.

United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha held a press conference in Providence on Tuesday announcing the charges.

“While there is no shortage of other crimes to be mindful of, public corruption will always be a focus of this office. The public has the right to know that those who work for them are doing so honestly,” Neronha said in a prepared statement. “Taxpayer money must never be wasted, let alone stolen. When we discover bribery schemes like the one alleged here, we will do everything in our power to hold both the bribe payer and the person accepting the bribe accountable.” 

Acting Special Agent Kirk Greffen, who’s heading up the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) from Newport added, “A 10-million dollar heist is a major crime, whether the money is taken with a gun or with a keyboard.”

According to more details released by the Department of Justice regarding the charges, approximately $13.5 million in funding from the Navy was sent by ASFT to a subcontractor, mostly for work that was not performed. The subcontractor, over a period of years, allegedly kicked back a total of approximately $10 million to Mariano, Mariano’s relatives and associates, and back to entities controlled by Dutta-Gupta.

U.S. Customs agents arrested Dutta-Gupta on Sunday in Atlanta as he reentered the country on a return trip from Chile and then turned him over to the FBI, according to the press release. At U.S. District Court in Atlanta on Monday, Dutta-Gupta was released on a $25,000 unsecured bond and ordered to surrender his passport. He was ordered to appear in U.S. District in Providence on February 15, 2011.

Officials said Mariano surrendered to the U.S. Marshals Service in Rhode Island on Monday and later appeared in U.S. District Court in Providence. Mariano was released on a $50,000 unsecured bond and also surrendered his passport.

The United States Department of Justice investigation has also involved criminal investigators from the Newport Naval base, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service, according to the news release. U.S. Attorneys Andrew J. Reich and Lee H. Vilker are prosecuting the case.

In Newport, NAVSEA oversees combat system designs and engineering projects for the U.S. Navy. Investigators described Mariano’s role at NAVSEA as having direct influence over existing contracts and the evaluation of proposals during the project bidding phase for new contracts.

ASFT, a provider of technical support and engineering services for various industries that includes submarine combat control systems, is based in Roswell, GA, and maintains offices in Middletown at the , as well as in Washington D.C.

Last summer, Patch reported that ASFT had landed a with the Newport-based Naval Undersea Warfare Center. The Warfare Center in Newport provides engineering support for military submarines through research, development, and testing.

ASFT reportedly employs more than 100 workers at Middletown's Aquidneck Corporate Park location.

Patch will continue to follow this story as it develops.