Frank Rafaraci, CEO of MLS, the US Navy’s largest foreign port contractor, is accused of defrauding the US Navy for $ 50 million
False invoices, money laundering and corruption.
These are the accusations made by the United States government against Frank Rafaraci, Italian American manager, CEO of Multinational Logistics Services (Mls). The company is the US Navy’s main foreign port contractor.
The US government is trying to extradite Rafaraci from Malta to the United States accusing him of defrauding the Navy for about $ 50 million.
Rafaraci, who has dual Italian-American citizenship and lives mainly in Dubai, has been under investigation for several years, according to the Washington Post. But the UAE does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
The Navy relies on contractors such as MLS to provide supplies including food, water, fuel and facilitate various port services to US military vessels while in foreign ports.
Since 2010, the Navy and federal agencies have awarded MLS approximately $ 1.3 billion in contracts to supply US warships in the Middle East, Asia and other regions. It is currently the largest port service provider to the US Navy in the world, according to the Post.
All the details.THE EXTRADITION ATTEMPT FOR FRANK RAFARACI
The US authorities are trying to bring Frank Rafaraci, 68, managing director of MLS, to the United States from Malta. Here the authorities arrested him last week after an international manhunt.
“Rafaraci’s lawyers, however, managed to get him back in freedom in less than a day – reports Repubblica today – rejecting all the charges and contesting the errors in the urgent procedure followed by the US and Maltese investigators. These are highly rated lawyers on the island: Stefano Filletti and Giannella De Marco, daughter of the former President of the Republic and sister of a political leader. The prosecutor filed an appeal, citing the danger of escape, which was again rejected last Saturday. The extradition request remains pending “.
ALL ACCUSATIONS TO THE ITALO-AMERICAN MANAGER
According to an arrest warrant, Rafaraci and Mls defrauded the Navy of at least $ 50 million by inflating bills for port services between 2011 and 2018.
Among the charges was that of having charged the Navy 231,000 dollars in “port authority” taxes to allow the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to dock in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, in 2015.
On that occasion, the port of Manama only charged $ 12,686 to allow the ship to dock. THE CASE OF CORRUPTION
Among the alleged cases of corruption, in August 2015 Rafaraci met an anonymous Navy official and gave him an envelope of $ 20,000 in cash and told him to “keep up the good work”, according to the arrest warrant. from the Post.
He would meet with the officer again three years later to deliver a $ 13,500 bribe at a hotel in Miami. According to the Times of Malta, the bribes would have served to obtain inside information on future Navy contracts.
The officer, who served as a Navy liaison in Bahrain before working for the military, allegedly pleaded guilty to bribery in June and worked with investigators, according to court documents displayed by the Post. His identity and case file are currently classified. ALSO MONEY LAUNDERING
In addition to bribery, Rafaraci is accused of money laundering to avoid US taxes by moving cash from corporate accounts in Malta and the UK to a shell company in the UAE.
According to the Post, the manager dubbed this scheme “Keep Going”. US NAVY POSITION
On October 1, the US Navy suspended MLS and Rafaraci on Friday from doing future business with any federal agency. However, the company will be authorized to fulfill current contracts with the Navy, according to Cmdr. Courtney Hillson.
Hillson said agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) uncovered the alleged wrongdoing and “actively coordinated with other law enforcement authorities around the world.”
