Navy kickbacks case firm lays off staff

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (WPRI) - Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow is laying off its entire staff in Middletown, Roswell, Ga., and Fairfax, Va., following last week’s federal corruption case against its founder, WPRI.com has confirmed.

Wayne King, Advanced Solutions’ acting CEO, confirmed the mass layoffs in a brief phone interview this morning. The layoffs take effect at noon Monday.

King informed workers that they are losing their jobs in an e-mail message sent this morning and obtained by WPRI.com.

Advanced Solutions' assets have been frozen to the point that the company has been unable to secure financing or find a buyer to take it over, King said in the e-mail.

"Our efforts to obtain adequate financing have been undertaken on a nearly endless basis until we determined Sunday that we could not continue to operate without this needed financing," he wrote.

Prosecutors last week charged Advanced Solutions founder Anjan Dutta-Gupta, 58, with using subcontractors to funnel roughly $10 million to Ralph Mariano, 52, and his relatives over more than 10 years as a bribe to help secure more than $120 million worth of Navy contracts. Dutta-Gupta and his wife, Indrani, resigned from the firm Thursday.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha's office said his office did not freeze Advanced Solutions' assets, but declined to comment further.

King told WPRI.com that officials at Advanced Solutions are still working to determine the total number of employees they are laying off and whether they will receive severance packages or other assistance. "We're trying to figure that out," he said.

Estimates of Advanced Solutions’ total headcount have ranged from about 100 to nearly 150. King declined to provide an employee total in interviews last week and this week.

Advanced Solutions' management is coordinating with state agencies and other companies in the three regions where it has offices to help its workers find new jobs, King said.

"Thank you for your years of outstanding service," King wrote to close the e-mail. "It has been my honor and great privilege to work with you. Fair winds and following seas."

Dutta-Gupta was arrested Feb. 6 and is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lincoln Almond on Tuesday.

Mariano appeared in court Feb. 7 and was released on $50,000 unsecured bond after surrendering his passport. He was also ordered to obtain mental health treatment.

tnesi@wpri.com

Eyewitness News reporter Tim White contributed to this report.