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The FBI is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Onur Simsek, a Turkish national accused of orchestrating a scheme that funneled foreign-made military components into the U.S. Department of Defense supply chain while disguising them as domestically manufactured parts.
Simsek has been named to the FBI's newly established Most Wanted Fraudsters list, a roster the bureau created to spotlight individuals charged with defrauding the American public. Federal authorities believe he is currently living in Türkiye.
According to federal authorities, Simsek and unnamed co-conspirators used a Central Florida company as a front between April 2019 and February 2022 to win contracts to supply critical military components to the Pentagon.
The company presented itself as a vetted, qualified U.S. manufacturer, but investigators say the parts were actually produced in Türkiye, then shipped to the United States and repackaged to appear as though they met American production requirements and product specifications.
Investigators say Simsek carried out the alleged fraud even though he had already been barred from doing business with the U.S. government since 2018.
A federal arrest warrant for Simsek was issued October 25, 2023, by the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
He faces eight charges: conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering, conspiracy to commit export control violations, a violation of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018, and violations of the Arms Export Control Act.
The Export Control Reform Act and the Arms Export Control Act are federal statutes that regulate the export of sensitive U.S. defense articles, technology and services, restricting their transfer to foreign entities without government authorization.
Law enforcement and government officials framed the case as a matter of national security as well as financial fraud. FBI Tampa Division Special Agent in Charge Rodney E. Crawford said the alleged deception "could have seriously compromised our national security," adding that partnerships among agencies had helped avert a worse outcome.
U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe of the Middle District of Florida said Simsek "deliberately concealed, misrepresented, and submitted false claims to the government for his personal gain, at the expense of American taxpayers."
Nakia M. Alexander, acting special agent in charge of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General's Defense Criminal Investigative Service in the Southeast, said submitting false certifications to the Defense Logistics Agency "is not just financial fraud, it is a direct threat to national security and the lives of our service members."
The Defense Logistics Agency is the Pentagon component responsible for supplying U.S. military forces and federal agencies with materiel and logistics support.
Elisa Pellegrini, special agent in charge of the U.S. General Services Administration Office of Inspector General's Mid-Atlantic Investigations Division, noted that Simsek had allegedly returned to government contracting after previously being debarred over a conviction for similar crimes.
GSA Administrator Edward C. Forst said the alleged fraud "deprived taxpayers of value, denied honest businesses fair opportunity, and diverted critical resources from American warfighters."
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