Fort Belvoir, Va. –
DCAA Investigative Support Auditors Rebecca Pugsley and Shannon Mabry and Supervisory Auditors Roy Nelson and Jeff Beck analyzed corporate financial records, procurement documents, and bank records in support of a case resulting in both fines and jail sentences.
A federal jury in Salt Lake City found Odyssey International, Inc. and its president/owner Whitney McBride guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and major fraud. McBride was also found guilty of making a false statement to federal law enforcement and making a false declaration to the Court relative to claiming special status under a Small Business Administration (SBA) program to obtain $99 million in contracts. Odyssey bid on the contracts knowing that it did not qualify for HUBzone contracts thru the SBA because 35 percent of its employees did not reside in a HUBzone and because Odyssey was not a small business. McBride was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison and three years of supervised release. Additionally, the investigation resulted in Odyssey’s former Chief Operating Officer Michael Tingey and Chief Financial Officer Paul Lee previously entering guilty pleas to wire fraud, resulting is seizure of more than $7 million in assets. Lee was sentenced to 1 year in Federal prison and 2 years of supervised release. Odyssey International, Inc. was fined $5 million.
This case was prosecuted by the Department of Justice and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Army Criminal Investigations Division, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the SBA.