Former Army Manager Sentenced to Prison for Taking $1 Million in Illegal Gratuities
PITTSBURGH – A resident of Rochester Hills, Michigan, has been sentenced in federal court to 46 months incarceration and a $100,000 fine, on charges of taking illegal gratuities, income tax evasion and making false statements to federal law enforcement officers, United States Attorney Soo C. Song announced today.
Judge Schwab imposed the sentence on Anthony A. Shaw, 55, of Rochester Hills, Michigan.
According to the information presented to the court, Shaw was a Deputy Project Manager responsible for directing development of and managing government contracts for combat vehicle systems such as U.S. Army High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (hereinafter Humvees) at the U.S. Department of Army, Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM). TACOM is located in Warren, Michigan, and is the Department of Defense’s facility responsible for contracting for design, production, modification and maintenance of vehicles used by the Armed Services. During a wartime buildup, it has been responsible for as much as $65 billion of contracts.
Because of his position at TACOM, Shaw came to know the Buckner brothers, who were 50/50 owners of Ibis Tek, LLC (hereinafter Ibis Tek). Ibis Tek’s main office was located at 912 Pittsburgh Street, Butler, Pennsylvania 16002, and it had an office at Ibis Tek Victory Road facility, 220 South Noah Drive, Saxonburg, PA 16056. Ibis Tek manufactured both military and commercial products but specialized in the development of transparent armor and accessory products for tactical and military combat vehicles. The Buckners were perennially interested in getting TACOM business. Over time, Ibis Tek held several subcontracts and prime contracts for TACOM.
In addition to his TACOM job, Shaw purchased houses in the Detroit area, and either flipped them or rented them. He owned more than 90 houses when the housing market sank in 2008. Shaw came from Detroit to the Buckners and complained about carrying more than $400,000 of credit card debt, explained that he needed money to avoid bankruptcy, which could result in him losing his job. As a result, from 2008 through 2011 Shaw took $1,055,500 in illegal gratuities from the Buckners. Shaw failed to pay income tax on these monies and ran up a criminal tax liability of $325,800. In addition, when federal agents interviewed Shaw, he lied to them by denying that he ever traveled in a car, a boat or an airplane owned by Thomas Buckner or John Buckner, and denied that he ever stopped to see Thomas or John Buckner in Pennsylvania while on a motorcycle trip, when in fact, he had done each of these things.
There are two more related guilty pleas entered in this investigation and each of these defendants is awaiting sentencing.
Harry H. Kramer, 52, of Wexford, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud for his role as CFO of Ibis Tek in a $6,085,709 fraud scheme against TACOM. Counts Two and Three charged him with filing false returns for Ibis Tek for 2009 and 2010.
David S. Buckner, of Warren, Michigan, (no relation to Thomas or John Buckner) pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging him with impeding the IRS by acting as a financial intermediary who received and then paid out money from Ibis Tek, LLC to Anthony Shaw, for the purpose of concealing that the monies were income of Shaw.
“Today’s sentencing, the third of five related cases, is the successful product of a joint investigation conducted by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Pennsylvania,” stated Leigh-Alistair Barzey, Special Agent-in-Charge, DCIS Northeast Field Office. “Confidence in the integrity of the public officials working in the DoD procurement process and supply chain is of vital importance to all Americans. DCIS is committed to working with its law enforcement partners to investigate any violations of this public trust.”
“IRS-Criminal Investigation provides financial investigation expertise in our work with our law enforcement partners,” said IRS Acting Special Agent in Charge Ed Wirth. “Pooling the skills of each agency makes a formidable team as we investigate allegations of wrong-doing. Today’s sentence demonstrates our collective efforts to enforce the law and ensure public trust”.
Assistant United States Attorney Nelson P. Cohen prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
Acting United States Attorney Soo C. Song commended the Special Agents of the Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, and the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of these defendants.
