Jeff Newman Law firm represented Whistleblower in False Claims Act Case that resulted in $1.3 Million Judgment Against Government Contractor That Bribed Its Way to Military Contracts

By Jeffrey A. Newman · September 2026

A federal court in Alaska has entered a False Claims Act judgment of more than $1.3 million against a North Dakota construction company, its two owners, and a former Air Force contracting official who sold them confidential bidding information on military construction contracts. The largest was a $6.85 million building project tied to the F-35 program at Eielson Air Force Base.

The case began with a whistleblower represented by Jeff Newman Law. The whistleblower is a service member who was stationed at an Air Force installation in Alaska. The False Claims Act complaint was filed under seal in March 2020, with Alaska co-counsel Phillip Paul Weidner & Associates. The government intervened in 2022 and litigated the case, with our input, to its conclusion.

The fraud

In 2019, Defendant Brian Lowell Nash II was an enlisted airman working in contracting at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage. From about March to November 2019, the court found, Nash passed bid information to Defendants Ryan Dalbec and Raihana Nadem, who owned Defendant Best Choice Construction LLC. In return they promised  Nash a percentage of each contract the company won—5 percent, and on two later contracts, $1,000 plus 5 percent.

Under the lowest-price-technically-acceptable method, any bidder that meets the technical requirements and quotes the lowest price wins.

Four contracts were at issue in the civil case: two asbestos abatement jobs at JBER worth $725,000 and $467,000, a $210,000 project known as the Nike Site contract, and the $6.85 million F-35 building contract at Eielson. Together they were worth about $8.25 million. Nash testified that the bribes promised to him totaled $414,600.

The criminal cases

Federal criminal charges followed. Nash pleaded guilty in May 2022 to conspiracy and to accepting a bribe as a public official. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $47,000, the amount of the bribes he actually received. Dalbec pleaded guilty in August 2022 to conspiracy and bribery of a public official. He was sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay a $172,500 fine and $16,296.80 in restitution. Nadem pleaded guilty in November 2022 to a federal financial structuring charge.

The civil case

A prison sentence punishes. The False Claims Act is how the government recovers its money, with treble damages and a civil penalty for each false claim.

In a March 27, 2026 order, the court set the government’s damages at $414,600 and trebled them to $1,243,800. The government had asked for the maximum civil penalty on five contracts. The court imposed penalties on the four contracts established in the case, at the minimum of $14,308 each, for a total of $57,232, citing the criminal sentences already imposed.

Best Choice Construction and Nadem never appeared in the case. On August 24, 2026, the court entered default judgment against them and made all four defendants jointly and severally liable for the full $1,243,800 in damages and $57,232 in penalties.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska announced the judgment on September 18, 2026. Collecting on the judgment is the government’s next task.

Jeff Newman Law is a firm representing whistleblowers nationwide in False Claims Act, SEC, CFTC, and IRS fraud matters. For a confidential consultation, contact Jeff Newman at jeffnewmanlaw.com or 617-823-3217.