Summary

On March 27, 2013 , in U.S. District Court, Washington, D.C., Luis Rodriguez pleaded guilty to false statements in conjunction with a contract proposal he submitted to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration (MARAD).

OIG's investigation revealed that Rodriguez submitted a proposal to a MARAD official, under the business name Guardian, for a lucrative contract providing maritime security services to combat Somali pirates attacking private merchant vessels off of the African Coast.  Throughout the proposal, Rodriguez included numerous false representations concerning Guardian's capacity to carry-out the proposal's mission.  For example, Rodriguez indicated that his company could provide a private, 3000 person army; however, his company did not have any employees, executive officers, or personnel.

We are conducting this investigation with assistance from MARAD.