JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Navy reservist, who according to legal documents previously served on the Naval Station Mayport-based USS Carney, is now facing a federal charge.
A complaint was filed last week in federal court in Jacksonville, revealing that Raymond Andres Zumba is being charged with bribery of a public official.
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According to legal documents, Zumba allegedly attempted to bribe a former shipmate in Jacksonville to get fake Navy ID cards for Chinese immigrants.
“The individual who was to provide the information and the ID card to the immigrants is certainly someone who cannot be trusted internally within the Navy,” said Dale Carson, attorney and former FBI agent.
Zumba allegedly said the ID cards were for “immigration purposes to show that the Chinese buyers were married to servicemembers.”
He arranged for the buyers to pay $3,500 for two ID cards according to the complaint. One is a Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizen, and the other is a Chinese national who, as of Feb. 13th, lacked documentation to live in the U.S.
Zumba talked to investigators after being detained and allegedly told them he’d thought the deal only paid for “dead” cards, which didn’t allow access onto the base.
Because access to Navy bases is typically extremely restricted, Carson said this raises safety concerns.
“The individuals who were requesting the ID cards from the reservist, maybe individuals who were set to that task by the foreign government,” said Carson. “That makes it potentially extremely dangerous. With technology today, drones, cameras all of those sorts of things can be used to supply other governments with information that could inversely affect us.”
If Zumba is convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison.
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