Jun.09, 2010, 3:15pm HAST, Source: PACIFIC BUSINESS NEWS

Two soldiers deployed to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan — one of whom was deployed from a base in Hawaii — have been indicted on charges of participating in an alleged bribery and money laundering scheme related to the award of a Department of Defense trucking services contract in Afghanistan.

The charges were announced in Washington, D.C., by Florence Nakakuni, the U.S. attorney for Hawaii, and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

According to the indictment returned in Hawaii’s U.S. District Court, retired Army Sgt. Charles O. Finch, 44, of Hawaii, accepted a $50,000 bribe in the fall of 2004 to influence the award of a trucking contract to AZ Corp., an Afghan contracting company. The owners of the corporation, brothers Assad John Ramin, 40, and Tahir Ramin, 32, both of Pennsylvania, offered the bribe to Finch, the indictment says. The bribe was paid through the business account of Finch’s roommate at Bagram, 1st Sgt. Gary M. Canteen, 41, of Delaware, the indictment alleges, to disguise the nature and source of the payment.

Canteen allegedly passed on a portion of the funds to Finch. Finch then recommended award of the contract to AZ Corp., which was awarded the contract, the indictment says.

Finch was arrested Wednesday morning in Hawaii and was expected to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Honolulu later in the day.

Finch, John Ramin, Tahir Ramin and AZ Corp. are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, one count of bribery, one count of conspiracy to launder money and one count of money laundering. Canteen is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, one count of conspiracy to launder money and one count of money laundering.

Each individual faces potential prison terms of as much as 20 years and fines for as much as $500,000 for each of the various charges.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall Silverberg of the District of Hawaii, and trial attorneys Mark Pletcher and Emily Allen of the Criminal and Antitrust Divisions.

The Ramin brothers and AZ Corp. are scheduled to begin trial in the Northern District of Illinois on separate bribery and mail fraud charges related to the procurement and delivery of concrete bunkers and barriers at Bagram Airfield. Three former military officials have pled guilty to receiving bribes from them.