Ex-defense official confesses to breaking banking laws
The former acting chief of staff for the Defense Department's Office of Inspector General confessed last month to violating banking laws by structuring cash transactions to evade reporting requirements, court documents show. In a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia, Richard Race pleaded guilty to one felony count of the crime on February 26. Sentencing is set for May 2. Race could face a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, special assessment and one year of supervised release, according to the plea agreement. The Department of Defense's Office of Inspector General issued a statement Tuesday that Race agreed to take "voluntary retirement" on February 16. The statement makes no mention of the charge against him or details related to it. "The Office of Inspector General was not involved in the reporting or investigation of the matters underlying the recent judicial action, and has no information that would suggest any relationship between those matters and Mr. Race's official duties with the Office of Inspector General." No details were available about why an announcement on Race wasn't made until this week. The statement says the office was advised that an investigation of Race would start in October. The office referred the information to the chairman of the Integrity Committee of the President's Council for Integrity and Efficiency, as required for reporting allegations against senior inspector general officials. During three days starting March 7, 2007, Race made three deposits -- $9,000, $9,000 and $2,000 -- into a Pentagon Federal Credit Union account held by him and his wife, Suzanne, according to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement. Race forfeited the $20,000 as part of his plea. Court documents say that when Race made his first deposit, he had more than $10,000. He advised the bank teller that he had sold an automobile and already had claimed the money on his taxes. "Defendant further stated that he intended to avoid generating a report to the government, which he believed could result in a tax being assessed on the same sale a second time. Defendant stated that, accordingly, he would make two additional deposits in amounts less than $10,000." According to court filings, Race was aware that if any of his deposits were $10,000 or more, the bank would have to file a Currency Transaction Report, as federal law requires. Race initially told federal investigators in December that he received $20,000 from the sale of the car and didn't know why he made three transactions, although he said he was aware of the reporting requirement, court documents show. Investigators said Race denied the statements reported by the bank teller and denied trying to conceal anything from the government. In a later interview with Race and his wife, they explained that they intended to place $9,000 at the credit union, $9,000 at another bank and keep $2,000 in cash. When those plans changed, the three deposits were necessary, they told investigators, records show. According to court documents, the reasons given for splitting up the payments were false, "and defendant knew they were false when he made and adopted the statements." His denials of statements he made to the teller also were false, investigators concluded. After Race entered his plea last month, Judge Leonie Brinkema placed him on an unsecured, $10,000 bond, and he was released on his own recognizance, with conditions. He was forced to surrender his passport and faced travel and other restrictions. Race began working for the Office of Inspector General in January 2003. He held several positions, including deputy inspector general for investigations and acting principal deputy inspector general. |
