FBI Agent And Business Associates Charged With Conspiracy, Fraud And Obstruction Of Justice
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On October 18, 2012, a recently-retired FBI Special Agent, Robert G. Lustyik, Jr., and two associates, Michael O. Taylor and Johannes W. Thaler, were indicted on federal criminal charges alleging conspiracy, wire fraud, and obstruction of justice. The indictment alleges that, beginning in 2011, the three defendants began a business relationship involving contracts for security services, electric power, and energy development in various locations throughout the Middle East and Africa.
However, in October 2010, a federal grand jury in Utah began investigating Taylor and his private security company, American International Security Corporation (“AISC”), related to a U.S. Department of Defense contract to provide training in Afghanistan to Afghan Special Forces for which AISC received $54 million. The indictment alleges that Taylor and Thaler enlisted Lustyik to use his influence to impede the investigation of Taylor and AISC in exchange for cash payments of $200,000 and a share of future lucrative contracts. The indictment also alleges that the three defendants communicated via e-mail “dead drops” to discuss the status of the federal investigation and Special Agent Lustyik’s progress in diverting investigative attention from Taylor and AISC.
The complete indictment can be found here.