Cask founder Mark Larsen announced to his employees this week that he was resigning effective immediately, to “focus on his family,” according to sources. The move comes as arrests are expected of either Larsen or his wife, Elizabeth Guezzale, who appear to be the subject of multiple Dept. of Justice probes into bribery and fraud.
One prior Cask employee and one Federal government official have already pleaded guilty in two criminal cases related to Cask. In those cases, the defendants claim they were part of a multi-year bribery enterprise led by an unnamed Cask executive. the court filings say that Cask bribed SPAWAR employee James Soriano in exchange for him steering millions of dollars worth of Federal government contracts to Cask.
Soriano was recently arrested for his role in the scandals, making it likely that a Cask arrest is imminent. Soriano is out on bail after having paid a $200,000 bond, but has had his passport taken.
According to court filings, Soriano kept some of the money paid to him by Cask hidden in a golf bag.
Oxebridge was the first to reveal that the company named in the various DoJ cases was, in fact, Cask.
Despite the scandals, Cask remains an official CMMC assessment body, or “C3AO,” authorized by The Cyber AB. The AB has refused to rescind Cask’s status, despite having ethics rules governing such bodies.
