Federal agents used a trade gathering of arms-industry executives in Las Vegas as an opportunity to arrest and charge nearly two dozen people in a sting operation targeting alleged bribery of foreign officials.
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents posed as representatives of a senior government minister of an African country. The agents proposed a scheme under which executives and employees at several companies would pay 20% "commissions" in order to win business, according to the Justice Department.
The business, according to indictments unsealed by a federal judge Tuesday, was purported to be a $15 million deal to outfit the unnamed African country's presidential guard with pistols, tear-gas launchers, bullet-proof vests and other supplies.
Instead, 21 of the 22 defendants were arrested when they arrived in Las Vegas for the Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show and Conference, Justice officials said. One defendant was arrested in Miami, officials said.
The employees targeted work for companies in the U.S., U.K. and Israel.
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