WASHINGTON, D.C.—Gheevarghese Pappen, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee was arrested today in Atlanta for soliciting and accepting bribes while detailed to the U.S. Army Area Support Group, Host Nation Office at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced today.
Pappen, 62, of Savannah, Georgia, was arrested on March 17, 2006 at the Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International airport upon his return from Camp Arifjan. According to the complaint, while working in Camp Arifjan securing apartments for Army employees, Pappen solicited bribes from a Kuwaiti realtor and advised the realtor that Pappen would only enter into contracts on behalf of the U.S. Army with the realtor if the realtor agreed to pay money to Pappen. The complaint charges Pappen with one count of bribery for soliciting and accepting approximately $45,000 in bribe payments. Pappen, ordered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to return to his domestic post in Georgia, was arrested upon arrival in the United States.
Pappen faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, a three-year term of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000.
This case is being prosecuted by trial attorneys James A. Crowell IV and Ann C. Brickley of the Public Integrity Section, headed by Acting Section Chief Andrew Lourie, of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. These cases are being investigated by Army Criminal Investigation Division and Defense Criminal Investigation Service.
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