A Navy veteran from Columbus, Georgia has been charged with wire fraud in connection with a scheme that defrauded the U.S. Navy out of more than $9 million. Cory Taylor Wright, 49, is accused of orchestrating a bid-rigging and contract steering operation alongside a co-conspirator who was employed by the Navy at the time.
According to federal prosecutors, Wright has agreed to plead guilty to the felony charge and cooperate with authorities. The charge carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Court documents state that Wright served in the Navy from February 1997 until his retirement in May 2017. He worked for the Mobile Utilities Support Equipment division (Muse) at Port Hueneme naval base in Ventura County during parts of his service. Muse manages power systems support for Department of Defense operations worldwide.
As he approached retirement in late 2016, Wright partnered with another Navy enlistee—identified as “Co-Conspirator 1”—to form C&C Power Solutions LLC (CCP), based in Georgia. Co-Conspirator 1 held supervisory roles at Muse and retired from the Navy in 2021. Prosecutors allege that Co-Conspirator 1 used his influence over contracts to steer business toward CCP between December 2016 and August 2022.
The two agreed that Co-Conspirator 1 would become an equal partner after leaving military service. In exchange for directing contracts to CCP, Wright paid kickbacks and other benefits to Co-Conspirator 1, including payments to a sporting club operated by him.
To fund CCP’s initial operations, Co-Conspirator 1 arranged for prime contractors and subcontractors to pay CCP for products and services not actually provided. Once operational, both men engaged in bid-rigging by submitting inflated fake bids from other companies so CCP could win subcontracts with lower offers. For example, they manipulated bids on a task order worth about $790,496 by ensuring competing estimates were much higher than CCP’s submission.
Wright also created fraudulent invoices claiming work had been completed when it had not. These false records led prime contractors to bill the Navy based on inaccurate information, resulting in improper payments.
Beginning September 2017, Wright and his partner conspired further to secure CCP as Muse’s next prime contractor—a deal potentially worth tens of millions of dollars. They submitted bogus documents such as a fraudulent past performance questionnaire while concealing Co-Conspirator 1’s financial interest and involvement from the Navy.
From July 2019 until early termination of several task orders between late 2022 and early 2023, Wright continued submitting false documentation leading to unearned payments totaling approximately $9,128,515.
The Defense Criminal Investigative Service and Naval Criminal Investigative Service are handling the investigation into this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys Ian V. Yanniello (Terrorism and Export Crimes Section) and Thomas F. Rybarczyk (Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section) are prosecuting the case.
