Independent Newsmedia
Queen Creek resident Whitney McBride, 41, and her company, Odyssey International Inc., have been convicted by a federal jury in Salt Lake City on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and major fraud in an effort to obtain a $99 million federal contract.
McBride also was found guilty of making a false statement to federal law enforcement and making a false declaration to the court, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Utah.
The government argued that the charges arise from McBride and Odyssey International “fraudulently claiming special status under a Small Business Administration (SBA) program in order to obtain the proceeds of a $99 million contract,” the release stated.
McBride and Odyssey were both charged in August 2020 by a federal grand jury in Utah with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and major contract fraud in relation to submitting fraudulent applications for a $99 million federal government contract in Fort Drum, New York.
McBride was charged with additional felony counts “related to perjury and making false statements during the criminal investigation and prosecution of her and Odyssey’s fraudulent business ventures.”
According to the release, McBride and Odyssey were charged with federal felony violations after investigators discovered that in 2011, Odyssey fraudulently bid on a $99 million contract for work at the Fort Drum military base in New York. The contract had been set aside for qualified businesses operating in historically underutilized business zones, or HUBzones, under an SBA program.
Areas are qualified as HUBzones based upon historical unemployment and poverty levels, and also include areas such as Indian reservations and military base closure areas. To qualify for a HUBzone contract through the SBA, two requirements are that at least 35% of the business’ employees must reside in a HUBzone and the business must be a small business.
“Odyssey bid upon the contract knowing that it did not qualify for HUBzone contracts through the SBA because 35% of its employees did not reside in a HUBzone and because Odyssey was not a small business,” the release further stated.
“In pursuing the $99 million Fort Drum contract, Odyssey’s officers and employees falsified information about who was working for Odyssey and where they worked. These efforts included recruiting employees to falsify their addresses on their driver’s licenses and voter’s registrations, temporarily placing HUBzone residents who did not actually work for the company on payroll in order to falsely claim them as employees and using a shell company to pay employees who did not reside in HUBzones off of Odyssey’s books in order to conceal them from the SBA,” the release elaborated.
At the trial, it was further alleged that Odyssey had also fraudulently gained admission to the SBA’s 8(a) program. That program is designed to provide contract opportunities to businesses owned by individuals who have personally experienced discrimination.
“The defendants conceded at trial that Odyssey’s application to this program was fraudulent but claimed Odyssey’s CFO was solely responsible for the application,” the release states. “Over a period of about nine years, Odyssey obtained more than $200 million in contracts through this program.”
The investigation also resulted in Odyssey’s former Chief Operating Officer Michael Tingey and Chief Financial Officer Paul Lee entering guilty pleas to wire fraud, and the seizure of more than $7 million in assets.
Sentencing is currently set for Sept. 1. McBride faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to twice the amount gained from the fraud.
This case was investigated by special agents from the FBI, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division, U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation and the Small Business Administration. Additional assistance was provided by the General Services Administration and the Department of the Interior.
Attempts to reach McBride were unsuccessful. The company’s website is down. Odyssey International, which also operates under the name Odyssey Global, is listed as being located at 1635 N. Greenfield Road in Mesa, however, the company no longer is at that location. A phone number connected to McBride no longer is in service.