Three arrested in Army kickback scheme

[UpInArms]

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/politics/12686934.htm

WASHINGTON - A civilian Army employee and two business owners were arrested in a kickback scheme to supply furnishings at a new Pentagon-run hotel in the Bavarian Alps that is used by troops on leave from Afghanistan and Iraq, the Justice Department said Monday.

Steven G. Potoski, 45, former contracting director at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch, Germany, accepted more than $350,000 in bribes in cash, home renovations, trips, computers and tickets to such events as Oktoberfest and the Indianapolis 500, assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher said.

Potoski, who lives in Garmisch, was arrested Friday, along with Alvan Vance McQueen, 56, of Shelbyville, Ind., and Ellis Abramson, 39, of Merrick, N.Y.

McQueen, owner of Flat Rock Furniture in Waldron, Ind., paid Potoski $45,000 in cash and other items as part of an agreement to inflate the cost of furniture for the hotel and split the extra money, according to a criminal complaint filed against McQueen in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.

Abramson, president of Bramson House Inc., had a similar arrangement with Potoski for draperies and guest room bedspreads, according to a criminal complaint filed against Abramson in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y.

...more...

[ShockediSay]

1. Once again it looks like the pork in the pockets of the fat rats.

How did we go from an account surplus in 2000 to a national debt of well over two trillion? For one, the fat rats are freeloading and not paying their share of the taxes.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

2. Hey, I used to party in Garmisch

when I lived in Munich. It was a hot spot for Americans to go hang out, ski, drink...

[Judi Lynn]

3. I'd like to think these creeps will really go to jail.

Too bad we can't go visit the furniture we've paid for there!

Here's a photo of the lobby of the taxpayer-funded Edelweiss Lodge.

-CLICK-http://www.cimoli.com/pictures/garmisch/pages/c_%20Lobby%20in%20the%20Edelweiss%20Lodge_jpg.htm

http://www.cimoli.com/pictures/garmisch/index.htm