Coast Guard Officer, Others Indicted on Contracting Fraud Charges
NORFOLK, Va. – Danielle Daniese Ferreira, 35, her husband, Henry Ramon Ferreira, 37, both of South Mills, N.C., Tracia Christian-Young, 41, of Bridgeport, Conn., and Wallace Mack Haggins, 45, of Cape May, N.J., were indicted today by a Norfolk federal court grand jury charging them with conspiracy, theft of public money, wire fraud, illegal gratuities, false statements, and money laundering in connection with a kickback scheme involving Coast Guard vessel repair contracts.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement after the grand jury returned its superseding indictment.
According to court documents, Lieutenant Danielle Ferreira of the U.S. Coast Guard held the position of Type Desk Manager in the contracting section of the Coast Guard in Norfolk. Beginning in May 2009, Lt. Ferreira began recommending contracts to Strategy One, LLC for repairs on U.S. Coast Guard cutters on the East Coast. Strategy One, LLC was opened in February 2009 and was owned and operated by Lt. Ferreira’s cousin, Tracia Christian-Young in Connecticut. From May through September 2009, Danielle and Henry Ferreira received almost $100,000 in kickbacks from Strategy One and another contractor. The kickback money was laundered through business bank accounts owned by Danielle and Henry Ferreira by Wallace Haggins, a Coast Guard recruiter who was a friend of Lt. Ferreira.
The investigation was conducted by Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General and the Coast Guard Investigative Service. Assistant United States Attorney Stephen W. Haynie is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
Indictments are only charges and not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.
