2 Hawaii soldiers charged with making $50,000 through conspiracy, bribery, money laundering

2 Hawaii soldiers charged in $50,000 scheme

HONOLULU — A federal grand jury has indicted two soldiers based at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii on conspiracy, bribery and money laundering charges.

The indictment returned Tuesday accuses Charles Finch and Gary Canteen of splitting $50,000 for steering a $1.5 million job to a company when they were deployed in Afghanistan.

The indictment also charges the company, AZ Corp., and its owners, Assad John Ramin and his brother, Tahir Ramin, with conspiracy, bribery and money laundering.

The brothers are accused of paying the $50,000 to Finch to recommend AZ for a U.S. Department of Defense trucking and transportation services contract.

The indictment says the money went into the bank account of Canteen’s Honolulu souvenir business.

Information from: Honolulu Star-Advertiser, www.staradvertiser.com