LAWFUEL – A Riverside man was arrested this morning on federal bribery charges after allegedly receiving the latest in a series of bribes from the general contractor in charge of the construction of a psychology building on the campus of the University of California, Riverside.
Theodore Chiu, 53, was arrested on the UCR campus without incident by special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation after meeting with the president of the Irvine-based FTR International, Inc.
Chiu was arrested pursuant to a criminal complaint that charges him with bribery concerning programs receiving government funds. Chiu is an associate director, Design and Construction, at UCR. Chiu told the president of FTR that controlled all aspects of the $26 million psychology building project.
According to the complaint, on Halloween day last year, Chiu solicited a $50,000 bribe from FTR, which was having some issues with the project. Chiu proposed that he would resolve FTR’s concerns by writing a change order to the contract if FTR would pay him $50,000. During a series of meetings that concluded today, Chiu allegedly received $18,000 in bribes from FTR.
Chiu is expected to make his initial court appearance tomorrow afternoon in United States District Court in Santa Ana.
If convicted of the bribery charge, Chiu faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in court.
FTR and its president fully cooperated in the investigation that was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
CONTACT: Assistant United States Attorney Kevin E. Smith
(714) 338-3591
Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Waier
(714) 338-3550
