"Necessary to Maintain Peak Lethality"

From an April 1 Justice Department press release:

Today, a Federal Judge accepted a guilty plea to destruction of records in a federal investigation from a former employee of a contractor that provided operation and maintenance services to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for U.S. military installations in South Korea.

According to the information filed in the Western District of Texas, in or about July 2021, David Cruz, 37, deleted text messages with Hyuk Jin Kwon and Hyun Ki Shin. Kwon and Shin were separately charged ‌for fraud and conspiring to rig bids and fix prices on millions of dollars in maintenance and repair subcontracting work provided to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in South Korea and remain fugitives. At Kwon's suggestion, Cruz deleted text messages after receiving a litigation hold notice from his employer requiring him not to destroy or delete communications. Cruz then covered up the deletion of those text messages after being specifically advised by his employer that there was an ongoing federal investigation.

In the deleted text messages, Cruz discussed with Kwon and Shin the need to get additional bids from their competitor to satisfy the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's competitive bidding requirements for subcontract work. Kwon had previously told Cruz that Cruz should contact him instead of requesting bids directly from Kwon's competitors….

"Bid rigging and other acts of fraud against the U.S. Army not only undermine the integrity of critical procurement efforts but also put our Soldiers at risk by providing them capabilities and services which do not meet the high standards necessary to maintain peak lethality," said Special Agent in Charge Michael DeFamio of the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (Army CID), Far East Field Office….