Ex-Employee of SIUE Sentenced for Lying to Federal Agents

Kwa Mister, 38, from Fairview Heights, Illinois, received a sentence of three years of probation, a fine of $2,500, and a $200 special assessment as a result of his conviction of two counts of Making A False Statement to the United States Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General and the U. S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today. "Simply put," United States Attorney Wigginton noted, "there is no right to lie to federal agents conducting an investigation."

The Illinois Department of Transportation entered into an intergovernmental agreement with Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (SIU-E) to be the fiscal agent for the Highway Construction Preparatory Training Program. Kwa Mister was the Director/Project Manager at the Small Business Development Center at SIU-E and served as the project manager for the Highway Construction Preparatory Training Program. Other facts revealed in Court showed that an investigation and an audit revealed that Kwa Mister obtained five contracts between SIU-E and Phoenix Support Services for Phoenix Support Services to purportedly serve as an independent consultant to assist with the training program, but that from March 2010 through January 2011, an audit discovered five Purchase Orders, five Contracts, and at least four Justification for Sole Source Purchase or Contract forms concerning the procurement of services from "L. A. S" [name removed]., Director, d/b/a Phoenix Support Services. The procurement of these contracts with Phoenix Support Services was initiated by the Program Manager for the Highway Construction Preparatory Training Program, Kwa Mister. Kwa Mister procured the services of his mother, L. A. S., for sole source contracts and concealed the family relationship and the potential conflict of interest from SIU-E. When the propriety of the contracts with Phoenix Support Services was under investigation by SIU-E, Kwa Mister lied to SIU-E as to whether the owner of Phoenix Support Services was his mother. Kwa Mister was charged with lying to federal agents concerning whether he provided false information to SIU-E.

The successful prosecution is the result of an investigation conducted by the United States Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, the U. S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of Southern Illinois University and the Office of Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Illinois Governor. The prosecution of the case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman R. Smith.