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SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. A 24-year FBI veteran from Sleepy Hollow has been accused of taking bribes and interfering with a federal investigation of a $54 million defense contract.
Robert G. Lustyik Jr. is charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, obstruction of the due administration of justice and obstruction of agency proceeding, according to a compliant filed last month in U.S. District Court in Utah.
Lustyik allegedly worked to stop a federal investigation into fraud allegations against Michael L. Taylor, 51, of Boston, according to testimony provided by Special Agent Thomas Hopkins in the complaint. Taylor is accused of fraud and bribery in procuring contracts for his company, the American International Security Corporation, to provide training and services to U.S. military operations in the Middle East.
An investigation of Taylor and the contract issued to his company began in mid-2010, officials said.
Taylor is accused of bribing Lustyik with $200,000 and shares in anticipated defense contracts totaling more than $150 million in exchange for his help in blocking the federal investigation and shielding Taylor from criminal liability, officials said.
Lustyik's relationship with Taylor and his involvement in the federal investigation is outlined in the complaint with numerous emails.
Lustyik allegedly used his role as an FBI agent to classify Taylor as a confidential source and tried to get other Justice Department officials to intervene on Taylor's behalf, officials said.
Emails and other evidence led investigators to believe that Lustyik had been working with Taylor since at least October 2011. Lustyik had been assigned to counterintelligence work in the FBI's White Plains office before his retirement in September.
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