A former state lawmaker from Virginia Beach admitted Tuesday that for nearly a decade he fraudulently won defense contracts set aside for disadvantaged and minority-owned businesses. In fact, she was not even living in Virginia Beach, where the company was located. So, Villanueva admitted, he persuaded his brother-in-law, Sam Caragan, to move to Virginia Beach and be the front for a new company. Together, the two companies — SEK and Karda — won over $80 million in government contracts; Villanueva made about a million dollars from them. A larger Virginia Beach contractor affiliated with SEK and Karda paid $16 million to settle fraud claims in 2017.

Source: Washington Post March 19, 2019 21:34 UTC