Capitol Crooks

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http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060917/25mzm.htm

Capitol Crooks

It started with the bribery indictment of California Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham, but before it's over, a sprawling investigation into a Pentagon contractor called MZM could snare some of Washington's most powerful inside players

By Chitra Ragavan

Posted Sunday, September 17, 2006

In the fall of 2003, an influential Washington defense contractor named Mitchell Wade was shooting the bull with Haig Melkessetian, a senior executive in his company, at their elegant office not far from the White House. "Haig," Wade declared, "I have a good deal for us."

The contractor enthusiastically laid out his plan: His good friend, Randall "Duke" Cunningham, a decorated Vietnam War fighter pilot, was planning to lead a congressional delegation to Saudi Arabia on a mission to help Saudi officials improve their image in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Melkessetian, a former Army Special Forces soldier and Arabic linguist, was taken aback. "I can't be on both sides of the fence," he told Wade, noting that their company, MZM Inc., was heavily involved in major counterterrorism projects with the Defense Department.

"Don't start that ideological crap with me," Wade snapped, according to Melkessetian's account. "I'm not here for ideology. I'm here to make money."

And make money he did-a cool $150 million in government contracts since 2002. But Wade's road to riches was one that would ultimately lead him to jail and ignominy, and, along the way, to a prison term for one lawmaker and still more criminal charges, in the next few days or weeks, against some of the most influential insiders in the nation's capital. Melkessetian, now a consultant for a U.S. intelligence agency, is helping federal prosecutors in a massive corruption investigation involving Wade, MZM, and Cunningham. The former eight-term Republican congressman from California pleaded guilty last November to accepting more than $2.4 million in bribes and favors from Wade; his mentor, Brent Wilkes, a San Diego-based defense contractor; and two other "unindicted coconspirators."

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