A high-ranking retired U.S. Navy Admiral and two business executives are in hot water after being cuffed for their alleged involvement in a dirty bribery plot. According to the Department of Justice, 62-year-old Robert Burke of Coconut Creek, Florida, along with business bigwigs Yongchul "Charlie" Kim, 50, and Meghan Messenger, 47, both New Yorkers, got pinched this morning with charges stemming from an indictment that spilled the beans on a shady exchange of Navy contracts for cushy private sector gigs.
Today, a five-count indictment was unveiled, accusing a trio of orchestrating a scheme that propelled Burke from a four-star Admiral overseeing European and African naval operations to a lucrative position with fat paychecks and stock options at the executives' company. Despite Navy orders to avoid Burke, they allegedly cozied up to him in July 2021 in D.C., aiming to secure a favorable Navy deal. The indictment was announced by law enforcement leaders, including U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and officials from DCIS, NCIS, and the FBI.
In a sneaky move straight out of a corporate thriller, Burke is accused of using his heavy four-star clout to slide a single-source Navy contract to the execs' Company A in December 2021, worth a cool $355,000, for military training in Italy and Spain. But Burke wasn't done yet, allegedly playing Puppet Master to guide another hefty Navy contract to Company A, according to officials. However, to keep the backdoor dealings under wraps, he tossed out a slew of fibs to Uncle Sam, pretending he had zip to do with the deal-making, and masquerading his job talks with Company A as nothing more than casual chitchat after the ink had dried on their contract.
Burke walked into his new role at Company A last October with a hefty salary of half a million dollars per year and a neat stack of 100,000 stock options. The indictment criticizes this move, with U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves condemning Burke's alleged corruption, stating, "As alleged in the indictment, Admiral Burke used his public office and his four-star status for his private gain," and adding, "The law does not make exceptions for admirals or CEOs," according to the Department of Justice. FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott also weighed in, condemning Burke's betrayal of both taxpayers and his own sailors, emphasizing the FBI's commitment to rooting out corruption regardless of rank or title.
Facing conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery charges, this crew could be staring down the barrel of a lengthy stint behind bars—if Burke's convicted, he's looking at up to 30 years, while Kim and Messenger could be benched for 20. The case, a product of the joint hustle from DCIS, NCIS, and the FBI, is being quarterbacked by trial attorneys Trevor Wilmot and Kathryn E. Fifield and Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Rothstein, who are no doubt prepping to take these big fish to school.
