> if the exec were a corporation, it would have been legal
No. It would not.
"Kail approved contracts to purchase IT products and services from smaller outside vendor companies and authorized their payment." This is a commonly outsourced function. If I hire a company to manage my IT procurement and learn they're getting undisclosed kickbacks, they'd be breaking the same laws Kail did.
It depends on the fine points of if the company is managing procurement or selling 3rd party services to fit a need. If the latter, it is a markup, not a kickback
No. It would not.
"Kail approved contracts to purchase IT products and services from smaller outside vendor companies and authorized their payment." This is a commonly outsourced function. If I hire a company to manage my IT procurement and learn they're getting undisclosed kickbacks, they'd be breaking the same laws Kail did.