ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando technology contractor was one of several facilities raided by Department of Defense and Army criminal investigators this week, the company’s CEO confirmed.
Sky Witness 9 On Tuesday morning, agents from the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), a branch of the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), were seen removing items from Cole Engineering on Discovery Drive.
Cole Engineering is a subsidiary of By Light, an IT company that focuses on modelling and simulation work for the military.
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“I want to be clear that we have no reason to believe that our company or any of our employees engaged in any wrongdoing,” Buy Right founder Bob Donahue wrote in a company-wide email confirming the search, which was shared with WFTV.
Donahue said no one at the company has been arrested or charged and that the company has since hired a former prosecutor as part of an investigation it launched.
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“We have initiated this investigation to understand the facts and ensure our policies and procedures are best practices…In the meantime, we will continue to cooperate fully with government authorities,” he wrote.
The day after the raids, an OIG spokesman said multiple locations in Florida had been searched but declined to confirm whether Cole Engineering was on the list or provide details about the other locations.
She also declined to comment on the nature of the investigation or which officials, if any, it would involve. The OIG was established in 1982 and primarily investigates fraud, misconduct and waste within the military.
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The U.S. Army, whose Simulation, Training and Instrumentation (STRI) headquarters is located adjacent to Cole Engineering in Orlando, echoed the parent department’s sentiments in a statement released Thursday.
“The Army Criminal Investigation Division, working with partner agencies, executed multiple search warrants in Florida on June 25, 2024,” the spokesperson wrote. “As the investigation is still ongoing, we are unable to provide any additional information at this time.”
The Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General was established in 1982 and is primarily responsible for investigating fraud, abuse and waste within government agencies.
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