(WFRV) – A man from Tomah was recently charged after allegedly claiming that his business was a Service-Sidabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, which resulted in him receiving contracts from the Department of Defense.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, 44-year-old Jonathan Walker is facing twelve charges in regard to a scheme to defraud the United States. Walker was reportedly the owner and operator of Walker Investment Properties, LLC (WIP) in Tomah.
WIP was a mechanical contracting business that offered electrical services and heating, ventilation, and air condition services. From July 2015 to June 2019, Walker reportedly sought and obtained federal contracts by saying that WIP was a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).
Federal contracting officers can restrict competition for government contracts to SDVOSBs if the owner of a business is a veteran and has a service-connected disability.
However, Walker is accused of not being a veteran (meaning he did not serve in the active U.S. military, naval, air, or space service) nor did he suffer a disability that happened in the line of study while in active service.
The Department of Defense reportedly awarded two contracts to WIP for HVAC services and fire alarm installation at Fort McCoy. The contracts totaled up to be $1,927,536,79. Walker also allegedly missed invoices for services under those contracts that resulted in payments to WIP totaling $482,577.
Walker is charged with ten counts of wire fraud and two counts of making false statements. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each wire fraud charge and up to five years on each false statement charge.
The following agencies assisted in the investigation:
- Department of Defense
- Office of Inspector General
- Defense Criminal Investigative Service
- General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General
No additional information was provided. Local 5 will continue to update this story.
