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James Cai, 33, secured $247,000 in government contracts to supply two FD150 diesel forklifts to the Fort Cavazos military installation in Killeen, Texas, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said on Thursday, Dec. 7.
The forklifts supplied by Toner Connect LLC had to be manufactured in America and required at least half of the components to also be of U.S. origin, the attorney general said.
Cai ignored the requirements, Sellinger said.
He bought the forklifts from a company based in Shanghai, the U.S. attorney said, then affixed data plates on them that said: “Final Assembly in the USA / Millennial Enterprise LLC / Newark, NJ 07102 / North American Headquarters”
Personnel at Fort Cavazos discovered “multiple operational problems” that Sellinger said “could not be repaired due to the concealment of their true make and model.”
Cai took a deal from the government instead of risking the potential consequences of a trial, the U.S. attorney said.
He pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Trenton on Thursday to making false statements.
U.S. District Judge Robert A. Kirsch scheduled sentencing for April 11, 2024.
Sellinger credited special agents of the Major Procurement Fraud Field Office of the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, along with special agents of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service Northeast Field Office of U.S. Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General with the investigation leading to the guilty plea secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen P. O’Leary of his Economic Crimes Unit.
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