Global Courant 2023-05-29 15:04:51
The former Georgia Tech Research Institute chief scientist has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud Georgia Tech and the Central Intelligence Agency, the federal government revealed.
James G. Maloney, 57, pleaded guilty to the charges Friday, according to the US Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Georgia. In 2016, Maloney’s co-conspirators James J. Acree and James D. Fraley, III pleaded guilty to the same charges, FOX 5 Atlanta reported.
“These defendants have betrayed the trust that Georgia Tech and the CIA placed in them by allowing greed to cloud their judgment,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan in a press release, noting that the plea follows a legal battle of seven years.
He added: “The seven-year delay in solving Maloney’s case was a result of Maloney’s ploy to avoid criminal liability by threatening to release classified information at his trial in a failed attempt to force the government to close the case. But as Maloney discovered, the government will not be bullied or threatened by a criminal defendant.”
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The former Georgia Tech Research Institute chief scientist pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud Georgia Tech and the Central Intelligence Agency. (Google Maps)
The three men were charged in connection with a scheme to defraud Georgia Tech and the CIA from early 2007 to late 2013, according to Buchanan. They were experts in electromagnetic analysis and measurements and were assigned to GTRI’s Advanced Concepts Laboratory.
During this time, they worked on projects funded by the Department of Defense, various intelligence agencies and the private sector, Buchanan said.
FOX 5 reported the fraudulent activities included misusing a Georgia Tech credit card known as a “PCard”. Fraley had access to the card and was only allowed to use it for official business expenses and the three men falsely represented personal purchases as business expenses. They charged about $200,000 to Fraley’s card for personal expenses, which included two four-wheelers and a trailer, two Sony 52-inch flat-screen televisions, Apple computers, iPads, a 3D printer, sports watches with heart rate monitors, and uninterruptible power. supply for a tennis ball machine.
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James G. Maloney, 57, pleaded guilty Friday, seven years after his co-conspirators pleaded guilty to the same charge.
Part of the PCard cost was maintenance costs for rental properties owned by Maloney and Fraley. Buchanan said they were accused of a secret CIA-funded GTRI contract.
The men also engaged in outside consulting activities that violated Georgia Tech’s conflict of interest policy.
Maloney and Fraley worked as consultants for Spectra Research, Inc., a defense contractor based in Dayton, Ohio. They assigned Georgia Tech employees to help them perform outside consulting work and directed the employees to charge time for Spectra work under a secret CIA contract. The contract had nothing to do with Spectra, Buchanan said.
The three men were charged in connection with a scheme to defraud Georgia Tech and the CIA from early 2007 to late 2013. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
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Georgia Tech learned of Fraley’s PCard violation allegations during a routine audit in 2013.
The school then made an appointment with him.
Maloney tried to orchestrate a cover by suggesting they try to match their stories. But Fraley was concerned that Maloney would blame him, so he taped the cover-up meeting and provided the tapes to the FBI.
All three men await sentencing.
