The Department of Defense and the U.S. Attorneys Office announced today that efforts by agents of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) and data mining by auditors have led to the indictment of four people, including a senior government contracting officer.

Thirty-four of 68 counts in the public corruption indictment focused on Kevin Marlowe, a senior Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) contracting officer, who allegedly had a secret financial interest in Vector Systems, Inc., a small Harrisburg, Pa. business, and used a government purchase card to award over $11 million in government contracts to the company between 1998 and 2002. The indictments further allege that the contracting officer and other members of his family, Frederick and Stephanie Marlowe, received approximately $500,000 in cash and other benefits from the owner of the business, James Kloss, also indicted in connection with the investigation.

The criminal investigation, conducted by the DCIS Northeast Field Office and the DISA Inspector General's Office, was initiated after the Defense Departments Inspector General auditors used data mining to identify irregularities by drilling down through the layers of paperwork to discover fraud.

The Defense Department and its resources need to be focused on protecting this nation and providing support for our troops. Considering the lives at stake in the global war on terrorism, we cannot afford any fraud perpetrated for personal gain to divert those resources from our warfighters, Department of Defense Inspector General Joseph Schmitz stated. These are the peoples hard-earned tax dollars earmarked for fighting the war on terrorism. This office will continue to closely monitor those funds for signs of any potential misuse.

The indictments were announced today by United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Thomas A. Marino; Special Agent-in-Charge for DCIS Edward T. Bradley, and Inspector General for DISA Charles E. St. Cyr.

The U.S. Attorneys press release is posted at http://www.dodig.osd.mil/IGInformation/IGInformationReleases/Index.htm .