PHILADELPHIA, PA — Federal authorities have charged three individuals, including a former Amtrak official, with engaging in alleged bribery schemes to manipulate the contracting process for lucrative projects. The indictment accuses Richard Thompson, 57, of Falls Church, Virginia, Shaun Hanrahan, 66, of Hampton, Virginia, and Darren Hannam, 57, of Haymarket, Virginia, of honest services fraud through bribery.
Richard Thompson, who served as Amtrak’s Director of Network Planning and Engineering, is alleged to have exploited his leadership position to steer contracts toward favored vendors in exchange for personal benefits. According to the indictment, between 2015 and 2021, Thompson orchestrated schemes that involved three businesses, including those owned by Hanrahan, Hannam, and others. These schemes reportedly gave the vendors early access to proprietary Amtrak information and bypassed the competitive bidding process.
Hanrahan owned Awarity, LLC, a management consulting and computer services business. Hannam, along with a co-conspirator, was a principal at Arch Technology, an IT firm. A third company, 20/20 Teknology, owned by another co-conspirator, was also implicated in the scheme.
Prosecutors allege that Thompson shared confidential Amtrak bidding documents and manipulated contracting processes to ensure that his preferred vendors were awarded contracts. He reportedly collaborated on bidding documents, altered vendor lists, and structured agreements in favor of the companies involved.
Among the projects tied to the alleged schemes were IT systems for Amtrak, nationwide WiFi networks, and infrastructure upgrades, such as improvements to access gates for railroad tracks. The indictment claims Thompson benefited financially and materially from these arrangements.
Examples of alleged bribes include approximately $97,000 in cash from Hanrahan, $9,500 worth of electronics such as Apple computers from Hannam, and additional payments, including a car and luxury accommodations in Ocean City, Maryland, from a third co-conspirator.
Federal prosecutors have also charged Hannam with falsification of records for allegedly attempting to hide the scheme following a federal investigation. All three defendants face multiple counts of honest services wire fraud through bribery. If convicted, each count carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison.
The investigation was jointly conducted by the FBI and the Amtrak Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Louis D. Lappen and Jason Grenell are prosecuting the case.
All charges are allegations at this stage, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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