Prosecutors said Burke was arrested along with Yongchul “Charlie” Kim, 50, and Megan Messenger, 47, founders of New York-based technology services company NextJump.
The three face up to 20 years in prison on the bribery conspiracy and bribery charges, while Burke faces up to 30 years in prison on charges of engaging in acts to affect a person’s economic interest and concealing a material fact.
“He denies the charges. We intend to go to trial and we expect an acquittal at trial,” Burke’s lawyer, Tim Parlatore, said in an interview. “This contract has nothing to do with this job.”
The indictment does not name the company, but its description matches that of New York City company NextJump. The company’s website states Kim and Messenger founded the company nearly 30 years ago and currently serve as co-CEOs. The company lists the U.S. Navy as a client, and announced on social media that Burke joined NextJump in October 2022, which coincides with the timing of the allegations in the indictment.
Kim and Messenger could not immediately be reached for comment, and their lawyers were not immediately available in Manhattan court records. NextJump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Federal law enforcement and military officials said in statements that the charges demonstrate a commitment to “root out misconduct” at the Pentagon.
“As the indictment alleges, Admiral Burke used his public office and four-star status for personal gain,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves. “The law makes no exceptions for admirals or chief executive officers. … The urgency is greatest where, as in this case, senior government officials and senior executives are implicated in alleged corruption.”
Burke oversaw naval operations in Europe, Russia and much of Africa until his retirement in 2022. A native of Portage, Michigan, Burke served as the 40th Vice Chief of Naval Operations, the Navy’s second-ranking position, from June 2019 to June 2020. He succeeded retired Adm. William Moran, who was set to take over as head of the Navy in August 2019 but abruptly retired following interactions with a subordinate who was accused of inappropriate behavior toward a female officer.
According to Burke’s Navy resume, he was a trained electrician and submariner who served on numerous tours of duty around the world. At the time the events described in the indictment began, he was the Navy’s Chief of Personnel, responsible for personnel, personnel, training and education.
According to the government, Kim and Messenger were co-CEOs of a company identified in the indictment only as “Company A,” which offered a personnel training pilot program to small Navy units from August 2018 to July 2019. Burke supported the program as chief of Navy personnel affairs, but the Navy terminated its contract with the company later that year. And in November, Burke aide According to the 16-page indictment, he was instructed not to have any further contact because of his new role as vice chief of naval operations and “future contracting activities.”
But Kim and Messenger allegedly met with Burke in Washington in July 2021 to try to revive the company’s naval business, agreeing that Burke would use his rank as a four-star admiral to guide the sole contract with Company A in exchange for future work. Burke also allegedly agreed to influence other officers to award a separate contract to Company A to train a large portion of the Navy, a contract Kim valued at “multiple millions of dollars,” according to federal investigators.
According to government investigators, Burke allegedly directed staff to award the company a $355,000 contract in December 2021 to train personnel under his command in Italy and Spain. He also Burke promoted the company in an unsuccessful attempt to convince another senior admiral to award the new contract. Federal authorities say Burke also made false statements to the Navy to make it appear he had no involvement in issuing the contract and to suggest that his employment negotiations began several months after the contract was awarded.
The government alleges that Burke began working at Company A in October 2022 and was granted an annual salary of $500,000 and 100,000 stock options. That same month, NextJump announced on Twitter that Burke had become a senior partner at the firm. He left the firm in early 2023, Parlatore said.
Burke’s lawyers denied the government’s timeline, saying it was “pushing the job offer forward to a July 2021 meeting” to fit the quid pro quo timeline. “The reality is the job was not accepted at that stage. That happened much later,” Paratore said. He added: “Does it really make sense to offer a $500,000 job in order to get a $350,000 contract?”
Only one U.S. Navy admiral has ever been convicted of a federal crime while on active duty: Rear Admiral Robert Guilbeault, who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2017 for lying to federal investigators about his involvement in the Navy’s worst corruption scandal, involving disgraced defense contractor Leonard “Fat Leonard” Francis.
But the Justice Department’s handling of the Francis investigation has drawn notoriety after the defense argued that prosecutors relied on flawed evidence and concealed information favorable to the defense. Two weeks ago, U.S. prosecutors moved to drop felony charges against five defendants who had been convicted, and said an additional 24 cases could be affected by an ongoing review of 34 indictments, including 29 guilty pleas.
Parlatore said there was no factual connection between the Burke case and the Leonard investigation, but raised eyebrows at the string of high-profile Navy scandals, saying the timing was “wrong to indict a senior official after all of the Fat Leonard-related connections have completely disintegrated due to Justice Department misconduct.”
