Former Unisys Executive Details Scheme for Doling Out Illegal Campaign Funds
The Unisys Corp. conspiracy involving illegal campaign contributions lasted more than six years as company officials doled out more than $35,000 to a wide range of congressional candidates, a former company manager disclosed Thursday.
The manager, John B. G. Roberts III, admitted in a guilty plea entered in federal court here that he directed a team of Unisys defense consultants to write personal checks to the candidates’ campaign committees and then seek reimbursement from Unisys.
The admission provided the most extensive description to date of the duration and extent of the illegal Unisys scheme, which funneled funds to more than a dozen congressional candidates between 1982 and June, 1988, when it was uncovered as part of the federal Operation Ill Wind.
With his guilty plea, Roberts became the 18th individual to be convicted in the ongoing investigation, which focuses on bribery and corruption in the Pentagon procurement system. The charges--one count each of making false statements and obstruction of justice--carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $500,000 in fines.
Among those who already have pleaded guilty are three other Unisys executives, including former company Vice President Charles F. Gardner. The Unisys Corp. has denied wrongdoing, saying that the individuals were solely responsible for the conspiracy.
The newly disclosed recipients of the tainted contributions included Reps. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) and John P. Murtha (D-Pa.). Federal prosecutors said that there was “not evidence that the congressmen were aware that the contributions were illegal.”
Roberts, who served as a marketing manager for Unisys and its predecessor, the Sperry Corp., said that he orchestrated the consultants’ gift-giving in a deliberate effort to circumvent federal restrictions on excessive corporate contributions.
The ultimate purpose of the conspiracy was “to promote Sperry/Unisys’ interest in the United States Congress,” Roberts admitted.
In describing a formal process, Roberts said that he prepared budgets for each of five defense consultants suggesting how much they should contribute to individual campaigns. The consultants were directed to claim reimbursement by submitting service invoices and accounts of such spending later were included in the company’s annual budget, he said.
Unisys spokesman William Beckham did not return telephone calls Thursday requesting comment on Roberts’ guilty plea.
The scheme described Thursday, which steered most of the money toward powerful members of Congress’ Armed Service committees, appeared part of a larger effort by Gardner and other Unisys officials to use financial leverage to win advantage for the company in competition for lucrative Pentagon contracts.
Gardner admitted last spring that he directed an associate to bribe former Asst. Secretary of the Navy Melvyn R. Paisley by purchasing Paisley’s ski resort condominium at an inflated price in return for preferential treatment. The associate, James G. Neal, also admitted to paying $400,000 to former Navy engineer Garland L. Tomlin Jr. to help Unisys win a large Navy contract.
With his plea on the obstruction of justice charge, Roberts also became the first consultant to admit to deliberately destroying evidence after learning on June 14, 1988, that he was a subject of the Ill Wind investigation. He is scheduled to be sentenced in February.
After being told by telephone that federal agents had seized records from Unisys headquarters in Great Neck, N.Y., and from the homes of some of his colleagues, Roberts told an associate: “I don’t have a fireplace, but I’ve still got a trash can.”
When FBI agents entered Roberts’ home later that evening, they discovered two paper bags filled with ripped documents that when pieced together later provided details about the campaign contribution scheme.
BACKGROUND
The sweeping Operation Ill Wind has targeted defense contractors, consultants and government officials who conspired to swap money for influence in the lucrative Pentagon procurement process. The most extreme cases of wrongdoing uncovered so far have involved former Unisys Corp. executives who admitted paying $400,000 in bribes to a former Navy official and bribing Melvyn R. Paisley, former assistant Navy secretary.
