Thursday, December 01, 2005

Forget Duke Cunningham. Take a look at THE PEOPLE WHO BRIBED HIM. (Updated)

(Note: If you came here by way of What Really Happened or Raw Story, you should know that my most recent article on this topic presents a much more detailed and formal investigation. And I just may have some breakthrough news on this front before the weekend is out. Stay tuned!)

Folks, I beg you to read through what promises to be a longish post. And when you're done reading, please point others toward it. I've done some research into previously-unexplored areas of a massive corruption scandal.

The journey began early this morning, when I made a stop at Daniel Hopsicker's site, where he has an important new story up: "Cunningham Stripped $700 Million from U.S. Defense -- 'Dukester's' Epic Boo-Hoo Hiding Massive Pentagon Rip-Off."

Hopsicker looks at a California firm called ADCS, which is part of the Wilkes Corporation, which lobbies -- and funds -- a number of Republican politicians, not just Cunningham. Wilkes operates under a variety of names -- the primary sobriquet seems to be "Group W Advisors." The whole shebang is owned by a 50 year-old businessman named Brent Wilkes and his wife Regina.

According to Hopsicker, Wilkes may have subterranean ties to the sleazy world of Jack Abramoff. At this point, I'm not sure. Those interested in pursuing that angle should read Hopsicker's piece and come to their own conclusions.

Even without the Abramoff connection, a little hard-core Googling placed this company in a very interesting light.

Before we go any further, let's clarify one matter: Mitchell Wade, owner of MZM -- the other company accused of bribing Duke Cunnigham -- is described as a "former employee" of Wilkes. And since Wilkes has a dizzying number of "spin-off" firms, who can really say, at this point, where Wilkes ends and MZM begins?

Wilkes runs his own PAC, named ADCS Inc. PAC. He uses that venue and a number of others to grease his way through the corridors of power. ADCS is frequently referred to as a "defense" firm or an "IT" firm. While it does seem to have some history in the field of document services, few have looked into the question of just what it is these people do for the DOD. When folks show up for work at 13970 Stowe Drive in Poway, California, how do they occupy their time?

I believe that this "defense firm" is little more a Potemkin village. A movie set. A false construct.

My findings were summarized in a letter to Hopsicker, which I will share with you here.

* * *

Daniel,

I was going to write just a brief squib directing my readers to your latest piece on Cunningham and his "sugar daddy," Brent Wilkes. Then I noticed that Wilkes corp -- or ADCS, or whatever the hell he's calling it -- is located in Poway, CA. That aroused my interest, because my ladyfriend grew up in that town.

So I started to do some research.

NOTHING ABOUT THAT FIRM MAKES ANY SENSE!

These people built an ostentatious, massive $11 million facility in a small town. Their web page and their ad on Monster list a LOT of subsidiary or related firms.

Note: The subsidiary firms are no longer listed and described on the main web page for Wilkes. You can find that stuff on the old page, still available via Google's cache function.

Yet this story says that ADCS has only about 100 employees.

Only a hundred staffers in a place like that? Each worker must have his own suite!

By the way, the "Bryan Wilkes" listed in the above-cited story is probably the same person who functions as the press secretary for Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA). Check out Royce -- his background might prove as interesting as Cunningham's.

You want to know how weird ADCS is? One of their sub-companies is called Group W Media. The ADCS website describes this company thus:
"Group W Media is a full-service marketing agency offering marketing, advertising, web design and hosting, event planning and graphic design services."
Now go to their web site: www.groupwmedia.net

That is NOT the website for any kind of legitimate advertising or marketing firm.
Look, I've done a lot of work for advertising agencies. I know what an ad firm's web page should look like. Any site in that field will always be flashy, glitzy, cutting edge, "in your face" -- and generously filled with samples of previous work. You would NOT have to log in to see what's going on at a real ad agency. As a moment's thought will tell you, any ad firm is going to pull out out all the stops when it comes to advertising itself.

Group W Media is some sort of cover.

That may sound overly dramatic, but I'm dead serious. That web page is fishier than "Finding Nemo."

I've been taking a look at all the subsidiary firms, and I have yet to see any indication that ADCS actually provides any kind of services to anyone.

Admittedly, my research is preliminary -- but right now, nearly ALL of those subsidiary firms have the odor of the bogus.

Well, there is one ADCS subsidiary that DOES seem to do something -- Group W Events. They do catering. They also host events at the ADCS corporate HQ in Poway. This whole thing seems to be headed up by Brent's wife Regina.

One of her few known clients was...herself. She catered her own fiftieth birthday party. She also put together a huge bash for Republican legislator John Doolittle, another recipient of Wilkes' largesse.

We know that ADCS -- a.k.a. Group W advisors -- has made quite a few political payoffs. This page lists two of the mechanisms as Perfect Wave Technologies and Pure Aqua Technologies. Google provides no hint that either of those companies does any actual work.

Note: Perfect Wave also seems to have funneled money to Texans for a Republican Majority. This may be part of the money that Tom Delay sent out for laundering. See here.

The only Group W employee I've been able to find any background on is a guy named Mark Turok. He has identified himself as Group W's "senior legislative analyst." He seems to have arranged for some of the political donations. He also ran a not-terribly-interesting right-wing blog for a while, although he stopped posting about the time the Cunningham scandal came to light.

The most interesting thing I could find out about Turok is that he's the alumni of "Christian Unified Schools," an institution founded by Tim LaHaye. That factoid may or may not be relevant.

My point is this: I'm unconvinced that the Wilkes corp actually does ANYTHING. Gina Wilkes knows how to throw a nice party, but that's about it. I have a strange feeling that this company exists for the sole purpose of getting massive Defense contracts, which are probably subcontracted out to real firms that do the real work.

I hope that some of this provides you with a few interesting leads. I may publish a version of this letter on my own blog, if only because doing so will save me the trouble of having to write it all out again. (Obviously, I won't publish any reply you make unless you ask me to do so.) Please keep pursuing this story -- my gut tells me that the scandal here is pretty damned sizable.

-- C

UPDATE: I've been privately told by someone I trust that the closest thing to an actual service Wilkes has provided to the DOD was, in essence, xeroxing. If that's true, then -- well, what can one say? Look at the amount of money involved! There's a sort of genius at work here...

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Joseph,
Do a "view source" on the Group W advertising page. You'll see a page author named "Rolando Garcia." Not sure if that means anything.

Anonymous said...

...and a "Max P. Gelwix" COO of Perfect Wave, donated $2,000 to Bush/Cheney in '04 http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:d5-tf-xmIgwJ:herndon2.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/dcdev/forms/C00386987/100771/sa/17A/13+%22rolando+garcia%22+%22perfect+wave%22&hl=en&client=firefox-a,
along with a Rolando Garcia w/a Houston, TX address in '03.

Anonymous said...

This may be well off-base, but I have been troubled for a long time about the defense dept./war profiteering link hidden in the incident in 2001 when a U.S. sub carrying civilian defense contractors on a junket surfaced suddenly (in a "gee-whiz" maneauver) off the coast of Hawaii and sank a Japanese fishing school vessel, killing many young students. The incident was hushed up by the Rumsfeld Def. Dept., in spite of the fact it was a major international incident. They went to great lengths to protect the identity of the civilians on board. The press in Hawaii was forbidden to publish info about them, and the Navy avoided having the incident go to trial. It screams for more investigation. As I recall, this was before 9/11, but -- like Cheney's meetings with oil industry executives -- I believe it was all part of the deliberate build-up to war and war profiteering. Maybe some of these firms associated with Duke Cunningham were on board? Just a thought!

Anonymous said...

Nice bit of research on this one, Mr. Cannon.

Anonymous said...

This is from their HR section:

Corporate Culture

When you become a part of the Wilkes Corporation team you will enter a working environment unlike any other. Our projects range from working on government contracts supporting homeland defense to planning major events in the community. We also have opportunities in information architecture and services as we move with the rapid pace of emerging technology.

Here at Wilkes Corporation we have a work hard-play hard mentality. That is why we have multiple company-sponsored events throughout the year. These events include:

* Quarterly town hall meetings and lunches
* Sporting events and tailgate parties
* Department lunches and events
* Summer events
* Community and political fundraisers
* Annual Holiday Ball

While at work we also want to make each day as profitable and beneficial for you as it can be. We offer the following to assist you in this:

* Internal training
* Educational/Professional Development Program
* Employee Incentive Points Program
* Great benefits packages

Our corporate headquarters are located in Poway, California with sister facilities in Hawaii, Washington D.C., (Chantilly) Virginia, and Panama. As our company grows, so do our locations, both domestic and international.

And this is from their job postings (not too many in the past year+)
:

All Job Postings
Job Title: Facilities Tech I
Job Type: Non-Exempt; Staff

Description: This position constructs, repairs, installs, and maintains area/sections of the corporate office building utilizing technical, interpersonal, and critical thinking skills under the guidance and support of the Facilities Manager. Provides functional direction to co-workers by taking initiatives to provide hands-on assistance, direction, support and development and serves as a positive role model by way of example. Displays and practices a work-style that reflects the mission, philosophy, and goals of the organization.

Department: Facilities
Location: San Diego
Date Posted: 8/19/2005

Job Title: Project Management Engineer (CA)
Job Type: Exempt; Management

Description: From requirements formulation through the fielding of technology-enabled systems, manages the activities of operations projects and contracts which involve the conceptualization, research, development and acquisition of technology systems for Military and Federal government agencies. Participates in all aspects of science/technology engineering research and development from the development/review of customer requirements, SOW and proposal development, project/task and contract management; coordination of science and engineering work products and deliverables; and perform as a liaison between management, technology partners, and the customer.

Department: Operations
Location: San Diego
Date Posted: 5/13/2005

Job Title: Project Management Engineer (VA)
Job Type: Exempt; Management

Description: From requirements formulation through the fielding of technology-enabled systems, manages the activities of operations projects and contracts which involve the conceptualization, research, development and acquisition of technology systems for Military and Federal government agencies. Participates in all aspects of science/technology engineering research and development from the development/review of customer requirements, SOW and proposal development, project/task and contract management; coordination of science and engineering work products and deliverables; and perform as a liaison between management, technology partners, and the customer.

Department: Operations
Location: Chantilly
Date Posted: 6/4/2004

Job Title: Public Relations Specialist
Job Type: Non-Exempt; Staff or Team Lead

Description: • The Public Relations Specialist will perform all duties designed to ensure a positive organizational image to the general public, clients, and the community. The person in this position will assist in strategizing and developing the media image for The Wilkes Corporation companies and will serve as a company spokesperson to the media and public under the direction of the President & CEO.

Department: Operations
Location: San Diego
Date Posted: 5/12/2005

Job Title: Research Analyst
Job Type: Non-Exempt; Staff or Team Lead

Description: • The role of Research Analyst is part of The Planning Group’s Knowledge Services. Research Analysts provide development support and execution of ad hoc quantitative and qualitative projects. Research Analysts assist Consulting Practice teams by collecting, summarizing, analyzing, and synthesizing facts (or alternative information when factual data is not readily available) that serve as critical inputs into targeted end products. These end products may be in the form of graphs, single exhibits, written summaries, and spreadsheets.

Department: Business Development
Location: San Diego
Date Posted: 8/11/2005

Job Title: Technical Writer
Job Type: Non-Exempt; Staff

Description: • Under the direction of the Staff Program Manager or VP of Operations, the Technical Writer/Documentation Specialist will complete various technical and non-technical writing assignments, including writing new material, editing existing material and assisting in the formatting and presentation of business/technology related documentation and contract deliverables.

Department: Operations
Location: San Diego
Date Posted: 8/25/2005

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, again, with additional info found by looking at the source code for the stripped "portfolio" page of Group W. Media's website. It looks as if they recently stripped everything from the public site - why?


"Clients" listed in the source code:
PerfectWave Technologies, LLC
ADCS, Inc.
Akamai Info Tech
WolfPAC
W Pavillion
San Diego's Tribute to Heroes
Paradigm Knowledge Management, Inc.
Corporación Digital de Panamá, SA
Mirror Labs
IDEA Group
BBQ Ranch
Group W Transportation
Ali’s Café
Archer Defense
W Catering
Wilkes Corporation
Mail Safe


Text near the top of the missing page:
What we do,
and how we work
Our works in corporate branding and custom designs for events
Learn about our unique projects
Send us your questions for immediate response

Google's caching info, with last active date:
http://www.groupwmedia.net/index.php?page=portfolio
as retrieved on Jul 15, 2005 01:26:11 GMT.

Anonymous said...

More possible bogus companies -
Jobsummit.com company Bio - from google cache


About Us

Founded in 1995, Wilkes Corporation is an established leader in providing technology solutions to government and commercial entities. The Wilkes Corporation provides leadership, knowledge and personnel for technology and defense-related business enterprises. The Wilkes Corporation supports multiple companies including ADCS Inc., MailSafe, Group W Outfitters, Group W Media, Group W Advisors, Group W Transportation, Group W Holdings, Al Dust Properties LLC, IDEA, PKMI, Akamai Info Tech, and Perfect Wave Technologies, LLC. The Wilkes Corporation maintains an ever expanding global presence with offices in San Diego, Washington D.C., Panama, Hawaii, and Germany.

To learn more about Wilkes Corporation and its affiliated technology companies, please visit www.wilkescorp.com. You can also browse all of our available jobs at www.wilkescorp.com.

Wilkes Corporation
Human Resources Department
13970 Stowe Drive
Poway, CA 92064
(888) 701-9800

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