Bechtel former executive charged with fraud

Former senior Bechtel executive Asem Elgawhary has been accused in a Maryland court of taking some $5m in kickbacks from power companies in exchange for preferential treatment on $2bn worth of contracts with an Egyptian electricity company. This was all concealed from his employer. Elgawhary, in the eight-count indictment filed on 10 February, is accused of mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to launder money and interference with administration of internal revenue laws. According to the document Elgawhary “used his position… as general manager of a power generation company to solicit and obtain millions of dollars of kickbacks for his personal benefit from US and foreign power companies that were attempting to secure lucrative contracts to perform power-related services.