Owner Of Herndon Engineering Firm Convicted Of Paying Bribes To A Government Official

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Francisco L. Bituin, 58, of Sterling, Virginia, pleaded guilty today to paying bribes to a GSA official in exchange for the official’s assistance in obtaining government contracts for Bituin’s engineering firm.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Robert C. Erickson, Jr., Acting Inspector General for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA); and Valerie Parlave, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton.

Bituin is the owner of FLBE, Inc., an engineering firm located in Herndon, Virginia, that has received over $30 million in government contracts since 2003.  In a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Bituin admitted to paying bribes to a GSA employee who was in a position to recommend FLBE for GSA-managed contracts.  The bribes included a $3,750 golf club membership and $2,000 in cash passed by the defendant to the GSA employee during lunch at a Tysons Corner, Virginia restaurant.  On another occasion, Bituin offered the GSA employee other things of value in exchange for his assistance in obtaining GSA contracts, including access to a retirement home in Las Vegas, the down payment on a home in Virginia, and 5% of the equity in FLBE.

Bituin faces a maximum penalty of fifteen years in prison when he is sentenced on Nov. 7, 2014.

This case was investigated by GSA’s Office of the Inspector General and the FBI’s Washington Field Office.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Nathanson is prosecuting the case.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:14-cr-236.