Bribery Scandal Details
In June 2005, it was revealed that Wade had bought Cunningham's house in Del Mar, California for $1,675,000. A month later, Wade placed it back on the market where it remained unsold for eight months until the price was reduced to $975,000. Cunningham was a member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and shortly after the purchase, Wade began to receive tens of millions of dollars worth of defense and intelligence contracts.
Later in June, it was further reported that the yacht that Cunningham lived on while he was in Washington was owned by Wade, and that Cunningham was paying only for maintenance, not rent. The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched an investigation regarding the real estate transaction. Cunningham's home, MZM's Corporate Offices and Wade's home were all simultaneously raided by a number of federal agencies with warrants on July 1, 2005.
The money and favors provided to Cunningham were in exchange for helping win Pentagon work. Government procurement records show that MZM, which Wade started in 1993, did not report any revenue from prime contract awards until 2003, but starting in May 2002 they were awarded contracts in the tens of millions of dollars which then grew to well over $150 million.
"Prosecutors also laid out a second, separate conspiracy in which Wade was alleged to have paid bribes to a Defense Department official and other employees in return for their help in awarding contracts to his company. Wade pleaded guilty to this scheme as well. The Pentagon employees were not named in court filings."
Read more about this topic: Mitchell Wade
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