A former civilian government employee who worked as a construction manager at the Twentynine Palms Combat Center pleaded guilty Monday (July 12) to two felony charges of taking $37,000 in illegal cash payments from a private contractor in exchange for his support for the contractor’s effort to obtain $6.4 million from the government related to construction projects on a Navy base in the African nation of Djibouti. Nizar Farhat, 63, of Palm Desert, plead guilty to one count of being a public official who received an illegal gratuity and one count of being a public official who received compensation from a private party for government services. Farhat face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is set for October 4. More information on the case is available at the link below.
FORMER DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL PLEADS GUILTY TO FEDERAL CHARGES OF TAKING CASH TO AID CONTRACTOR’S REQUEST FOR $6.4 MILLION PAYMENT
