U.S. ARMY COLONEL SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR TAKING BRIBES FROM SOUTH KOREAN COMPANIES SEEKING MILITARY CONTRACTS

In one of the longest public corruption sentences in California history, a United States Army colonel who was based in South Korea was sentenced this afternoon to 54 months in federal prison for his conviction on federal corruption charges.

Col. Richard James Moran orchestrated a scheme in which he solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for influencing the award of millions of dollars in contracts to two Korean businesses.

Moran, 56, who previously was commander of the United States Army Contracting Command Korea (USA-CCK), a position in which he oversaw an agency that annually approved more than $300 million worth of contracts, pleaded guilty in January to two counts of conspiracy and one count of bribery. After his arrest in Korea last year, Moran was reassigned to the Los Alamitos Army Airfield in Southern California, where he is now based.

Moran was sentenced by United States District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler in Santa Ana. Judge Stotler stated that although Col. Moran had a "stellar military record," his bribery schemes rendered him a "profound disappointment to society."

Moran's wife, Gina Cha Moran, 45, was also sentenced today. Judge Stotler sentenced Gina Moran to two years of probation for her conviction on one count of making a false statement for failing to disclose more than $10,000 in cash she was carrying when the couple traveled from Korea to the United States on June 9, 2001.

A third person involved in the bribery scheme was also sentenced today. Joseph Kang Hur, 57, of Anaheim Hills, was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, a sentence that took into account his extensive cooperation with the government. Hur pleaded guilty on August 19, 2002 to a bribery count for acting as a "consultant" on one of the contracts and collecting cash and checks for Col. Moran.
The case involves three contracts that were awarded to Aulson and Sky Construction Company, Ltd. (A&S) of the Republic of Korea. Even though A&S's original bids were not the lowest on any of the contracts - which dealt with family housing on the Osan Air Base, barracks at Camp Carroll and barracks at several facilities collectively called Area I - Moran influenced the award of the contracts after A&S agreed to pay bribes. The total value of the contracts was nearly $25 million.

When he pleaded guilty, Moran acknowledged that he agreed to receive more than $750,000 in bribes from the president of A&S in exchange for the family housing contract, the Camp Carroll contract and the Area I contract. Moran actually received only $350,000. More than $700,000 in cash was discovered when investigators with the Army Criminal Investigation Division executed a search warrant at Moran's residence on the Yongsan Army Base on January 16, 2002. More than $400,000, most of which was in $100 bills, was found in Moran's bed.

The case also involves a second company, IBS Industries Company, Ltd. (IBS) of the Republic of Korea, which was awarded a $14 million portion of a $112 million contract to provide uniformed civilian security guards at several U.S. Military bases in Korea. Moran and Hur discussed the contract, and Hur approached IBS to discuss the company making a bid on the contract. After the portion of the contract was awarded to IBS in October 2001, the company's chief executive officer paid Hur $20,000 in cash, half of which was given to Moran. Later, Hur demanded additional payments from IBS. IBS paid Hur in Korean Won checks, and Hur again gave half the proceeds to Moran.

In addition to the Morans and Hur, two others were charged in relation to the bribery scheme. They are: