SPRINGFIELD – Smith & Wesson's vice president of sales and 21 other executives from various arms and military products suppliers are accused of offering bribes to an African government in hopes of getting portions of a total of $15 million in business, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.



Only the "officials" that Amaro Goncalves, 49, is accused of meeting with at a bar in Washington's Ritz-Carlton Hotel on two occasions were really undercover FBI agents, the justice department said Tuesday.



It was a government sting operation, the largest in the history of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, according to the department. Federal agents were working on the investigation for more than two years. The investigation also involved the sale of other police and military equipment including machine guns and bulletproof vests.

Smith & Wesson was not named in the indictment. Smith & Wesson also did not return calls and e-mails for comment Tuesday.

Most of the 21 defendants, including Goncalves, were arrested Monday in Las Vegas while attending the firearms industry’s annual Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show and Conference.

They are all charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiracy to launder money. The maximum sentence for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is five years in federal prison. The maximum sentences for conspiracy to launder money is 20 years. Arraignments are expected to be in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.

According to the indictment, the 22 defendants created two price quotations for the unnamed African country that was supposedly looking to outfit its presidential guard. One price quotation had the real price of the goods and one had an illegal 20 percent “commission” added, 10 percent for the purchasing agent (FBI agent) and 10 percent for the country’s minister of defense.

Goncalves arranged the test sale of 25 handguns to the African country for $12,495 in June and paid the 20 percent “commission,” the indictment stated. Meanwhile, the government paid Smith & Wesson for the guns and stored them in Virginia.

In October, Goncalves met again with an FBI agent who was pretending to represent the minister of defense, prosecutors said. The undercover agent told Goncalves that the minister was happy with the pistols and with his bribe. Goncalves is accused of striking a deal at that time for another 1,800 pistols, according to the indictment.

Federal indictments in the case were unsealed Tuesday in Washington.

Also charged are executives and employees at companies in Arkansas, Virginia, Florida, California, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Executives at companies in the United Kingdom and Israel also were indicted, according to The Associated Press.