UNITED STATES ATTORNEY’S OFFICE ANNOUNCES THE FILING OF A ONE-COUNT CRIMINAL INFORMATION AGAINST A FORMER EMPLOYEE OF THE TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT

Martin C. Carlson, the Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced today that he has filed one-count Criminal Information against a former employee of the Tobyhanna Army Depot: Ludwig John Manganiello II, age 61, of West Pittston, Pennsylvania. The Criminal Information alleges that beginning in or about mid-2001 and continuing until in or about the April 2006, Manganiello and others conspired to violate laws of the United States including bribery of public officials, mail and wire fraud, and theft of property of the United States.

The Criminal Information avers that the Defendant, Ludwig John Manganiello II, was a government employee who served as a Controller for Tobyhanna. Between February 2001 and November 2005, the defendant illegally received approximately $16,000 in cash and merchandise for his assistance in directing contract awards to Computer Giants, Inc. Computer Giants is an information technology (IT) company based in New York City that sold various IT-related supplies and services to the Government including computers, and computer related hardware. The Information alleges in furtherance of the conspiracy, Ludwig John Manganiello II, and a coconspirator traveled to New York City to meet with Kafu Stephen Chung, a Computer Giant’s employee. During that meeting, an agreement was reached to create a “slush fund” for use by Tobyhanna coconspirators who assisted Computer Giants’ interests in obtaining Tobyhanna business. The Information avers that it was part of the conspiracy that the Defendant and Tobyhanna coconspirators, on numerous occasions, shipped undamaged government property from Tobyhanna to Computer Giants allegedly for repairs which, in turn, Chung, through Computer Giants, resold to Tobyhanna as if new equipment, thereby creating the “slush fund” for the Tobyhanna coconspirators to utilize to purchase merchandise for their personal use.

If convicted on the charge in the Criminal Information, Manganiello faces a maximum of five years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Gurganus is prosecuting the case.

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A Criminal Information is not evidence of guilt but simply a description of the
charge made by the United States Attorney against a defendant.
A charged defendant is presumed innocent until a jury returns a unanimous finding
that the United States has proved the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.