A government official from the Federated States of Micronesia was charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering in a scheme linked to a Hawaii executive who pleaded guilty to bribing foreign officials, according to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Master Halbert, 44, an official in the FSM’s Department of Transportation, Communications and Infrastructure, oversaw FSM’s aviation programs and managed its airports. Charges were unsealed against him on Monday. He made his initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard L. Puglisi in Honolulu.
He is alleged to have taken bribes from Frank James Lyon, head of a Honolulu civil engineering firm.
Lyon, 53, president of Lyon Associates Inc., pleaded guilty Jan. 22 to one count of conspiring to bribe an agent of an organization that receives federal money.
Lyon admitted in a plea agreement he paid roughly $200,000 in bribes to two FSM officials to obtain FSM contracts worth $7.8 million. The bribes included cash, travel expenses, a car, a truck, University of Hawaii tuition and an apartment.
From 2006 to 2016 Lyon’s company received contracts, including an airport improvement project funded in large part by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and for project management, the complaint alleges.
During its investigation the FBI gathered bank records, travel records and witness statements that revealed Lyon entered into an agreement with Halbert to bribe him in exchange for his help in securing contracts, the complaint asserts.
Lyon allegedly withdrew thousands of dollars from his personal bank account in Hawaii to pay cash bribes to Halbert in Hawaii, the FSM and elsewhere.
According to the complaint, after an FSM auditor expressed concerns about the purchase of a vehicle, Halbert emailed Lyon and another U.S. official living in the FSM, on May 3, 2010, “(I)ts ok, if you want to take me down no problem.” Then he allegedly told them if they were unwilling to back him up in confronting the auditor, they would never do business together again.
