Another 8(a) company has been implicated in the Army Corps of Engineers contracting scandal.

Robert McKinney, president of Alpha Technology Group in Waldorf, MD, has been charged with bribery of a public official. The indictment in U.S. District Court in Washington alleges that he inflated invoices on Corps contracts by more than $850,000 and paid more than $600,000 to a Corps program manager, Kerry Khan.

Khan was indicted in October along with his son Lee; Harold Babb, then director of contracts for EyakTek, an Alaska Native 8(a) company; and Michael Alexander, another Corps program manager. They are accused in a kickback scheme that allegedly generated payoffs of $20 million to Kerry Khan, Alexander and Babb.

The Khans and Babb have pleaded not guilty. Alexander has agreed to plead guilty, according to court documents reported by the Washington Post.

The latest indictment charges McKinney paid Kerry Khan to direct Corps contracts for project management services to Alpha Technology since 2006. Kerry Khan allegedly directed EyakTek to award subcontracts to Alpha and shared kickbacks with Alexander.

Two officials of another EyakTek subcontractor, Nova Datacomm, have already pleaded guilty in the case that the U.S. attorney in Washington, Ronald Machem called “one of the most brazen corruption schemes in the history of federal contracting.”

The case prompted the Defense Department to order a review of its large 8(a) contracts with Alaska Native companies to asses what is being done to guard against abuse. (SAA, 11/18/2011)