SANTA ANA, Calif. – A U.S. Army colonel from Maine, his wife and three others were indicted Wednesday on federal charges of allegedly soliciting bribes from South Korean businesses seeking lucrative American government contracts.

Col. Richard James Moran, a 25-year veteran, was accused of masterminding the scheme that allegedly bilked hundreds of thousands of dollars from two South Korean companies eventually awarded millions of dollars in contracts, which included the construction of military barracks at American bases.

Moran, his wife and Ronald Adair Parrish, a high-ranking civilian employee, were arrested in South Korea and put on an airplane bound for Los Angeles, where they were scheduled to be arraigned Friday on multiple charges of bribery, money laundering and conspiracy, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom McConville.