A former second-in-command of the Navy is accused of using his influence to steer a military training contract to a company in exchange for a $500,000-year job and stock options.
Retired Adm. Robert Burke was arrested Friday on charges including conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery and performing acts affecting a personal financial interest, the Justice Department said.
Also arrested were the company's co-CEOs, Yongchul "Charlie" Kim and Meghan Messenger, who were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery.
Their company was identified in reports as New York City-based Next Jump, which sells training sessions in leadership development and decision making.
Burke denies the allegations against him, his defense lawyer, Timothy Parlatore, told CNN.
"We intend to take these charges to trial, and we expect he will be found not guilty," said Parlatore, who's also a CNN legal commentator.
Lawyers for Kim and Messenger couldn't be identified and Next Jump didn't return a request for comment, the network said.
Burke, 62, was nominated by former President Donald Trump to serve as vice chief of naval operations, the Navy's second-highest uniformed position, from June 2019 to June 2020.
After he was later put in charge of naval operations in Europe, Russia and most of Africa, he allegedly met with Kim and Messenger in Washington, D.C., in July 2021 and agreed to arrange a $355,000 "sole source" contract for Next Jump in exchange for future employment.
The discussions also involved another potential contract that could have been worth "triple digit millions," according to the Justice Department.
In December 2021, Burke allegedly ordered his staff to award the contract to train personnel under his command in Italy and Spain, then allegedly tried to convince a senior Navy official to also hire Next Jump.
Following his retirement, Burke began working for the privately owned company at a starting salary of $500,000 and a grant of 100,000 stock options, according to the Justice Department.
If convicted on all counts, Burke would face a maximum of 30 years in prison, while Kim and Messenger would each face 20 years, authorities said.
