A Silver Spring man was indicted this week on charges that he fraudulently obtained a contract from the federal government designed for small businesses.
Federal prosecutors announced Monday they have charged Anthony Nwagbara Daniels, 59, with wire fraud in connection with a scheme in which his one-man business obtained a $1.16 million government demolition contract.
Prosecutors say Daniels formed Danison Inc. in 2004, a business that had no employees other than Daniels. He was then able to qualify for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Program, which is designed to allow socially and economically disadvantaged individuals who own businesses to bid on government contracts.
Through the program, Daniels was able to secure the federal contract in 2011 to perform demolition at Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County. To complete the contract, he hired a different company to perform all or most of the demolition work. That company then used false invoices to make it appear to the federal government that Danison had performed all of the work, according to prosecutors, who described Daniel’s company as “simply a pass-through for billing.”
The other company was not eligible to bid on the project because it had annual revenues that were too high to qualify for the small business program, according to the indictment. Prosecutors did not name the other company involved in the scheme.
Daniels faces five counts of wire fraud in the case and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each count. The government is also seeking $1.16 million in restitution and has already seized more than $360,000 from Daniels’ bank accounts.
