A federal contractor officer and three business people have guilty on Thursday for participation in a bribery plan of $ 550 million in which the controversial US Agency for International Development (USAID) was involved.
Roderick Watson, from Maryland, is said to have received the bribes with a value of more than $ 1 million while working at USAID in exchange for using his position as a trusted supervisor of taxpayers money to send 14 Prime Federal contracts to two consultancy firms, apprio and emstant.
Watson, 57, argued guilty of bribery of a civil servant and is confronted with a maximum of 15 years in prison. It is planned to be convicted in October.
As part of the extensive schedule, Walter Barnes, owner of Vistant, and Darryl Britt, owner of Apprio, Paul Young, the president of a subcontractor used who uses both Vistant and Appio, as an intermediary to hide some of the bribes intended for Watson, According to the Ministry of Justice.
The three business people each argue guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery of an official. Barnes also argued guilty of securities fraud.
The scheme dates from 2013, when Watson, who works as a USAID contractor, agreed to use his influence at the government agency to send contracts to Britt’s Apprio Firm in exchange for bribes, according to the Doj.
The Britt company was eligible for lucrative federal contracts as a designated ‘social and economically disadvantaged’ company by the Small Business Administration (SBA).
When Apprio was “graduated” from the SBA 8 (A) program, the scheme shifted and Watson started between 2018 and 2022 main contracts to Barnes’ Vistant Company – an Apprio -Ondergever – in exchange for bribes.
The USAID officer received “cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets for a suite at an NBA game, a wedding in the country club, decline on two home mortgages, mobile phones and jobs for family members”, of the three business people as part of the regulation.
Shell companies, fake invoices and fraudulent wage plates were all used to hide corruption, according to the Doj.
Barnes, 46, Britt, 64 and Young, 62, each are confronted with a maximum of five years behind bars.
“The defendants tried to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers by bribery and fraud,” said Matthew Galeotti, head of the criminal division of the Ministry of Justice, in a statement. “Their regulation has violated public confidence by corrupting the purchasing process of the federal government.
“Everyone who cares about a good and effective government must be concerned about the waste, fraud and abuse at government agencies, including USAID,” he added. “Those involved in bribery schemes to exploit the essential economic programs of the American Small Business Administration for small companies – or individuals or companies who act – will be kept to account.”
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk made USAID one of his first goals for major cuts when he led the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) of the Trump government.
In February, President Trump stated that the spending of USAID were usually ‘corrupt or ridiculous’, and added: ‘The whole thing is a fraud’, in comments from the Oval Office.
Musk has claimed that the agency is run as a ‘criminal organization’ by a ‘Viper’s Nest of Radical Left Marxists who hate America’.
Doge reduced more than $ 8 billion in financing and fired almost all USAID employees and contractors as part of his efforts to dismantle the agency.
