Massive Bribery Scandal Rocks USAID After DOGE Investigation
Following the exposure of a massive bribery scandal at USAID, the Small Business Administration is launching a comprehensive audit of every government contracting officer who awarded grants under its business development program over the past 15 years.
In a letter obtained by Fox News, SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, not Kelly Loeffler, called the fraud a “damning reflection of systemic failures in oversight and accountability” and said it “was not an isolated incident.”
Loeffler ordered Associate Administrator Tre Pennie, who oversees SBA contracting, to “act decisively” and begin a full-scale audit of all awarding officers dating back to 2010.”
“The role of federal government contracting officers is not ceremonial or self-dealing; rather, it is a position of immense authority and fiduciary responsibility,” Loeffler said. “The contracting process must be transparent and built on merit, not personal gain.”
The move comes after USAID, the foreign aid agency, was dismantled under cuts identified by Elon Musk and President Donald Trump targeting waste, fraud, and abuse. Democrats protested, arguing that the cuts would negatively impact impoverished communities abroad.
However, years of fraud have now implicated those same programs. Roderick Watson, a longtime USAID contracting officer, recently pleaded guilty to “bribery of a public official” for his role in a massive kickback scheme that ran from 2013 to 2020.
The DOJ said Watson took bribes from Walter Barnes, owner of Vistant, and Darryl Britt, owner of Apprio, with the help of subcontractor Paul Young.
According to the DOJ, “Britt and Barnes regularly funneled bribes to Watson, including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives. The bribes were also often concealed through electronic bank transfers falsely listing Watson on payroll, incorporated shell companies, and false invoices.”
The total value of the bribes was estimated at more than $1 million.
In November 2023, Vistant—through a joint venture—was awarded a contract worth up to $800 million. One goal of that contract was to address “a variety of issues affecting the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States,” an issue that had been assigned to Kamala Harris when she was vice president.
Just days after the deal was awarded, USAID canceled the contract and disqualified Vistant, citing “evidence of conduct involving a lack of business honesty or integrity.”
However, this was not the end of the story. The joint venture sued, won the case, and had the contract restored and received a $10,000 payment from the government in August 2024.
She blasted the Biden administration for awarding the $800 million contract to a company that had already been flagged for dishonesty.
Separately, Trump has gone to the U.S. Supreme Court over USAID.
An emergency appeal was submitted to the Supreme Court on Tuesday night by attorneys representing the Trump administration.
The appeal requested that the justices halt an injunction issued by a lower court and grant the administration permission to freeze billions of dollars in foreign aid spending that had been previously allocated by Congress. This would bring the issue of funding for USAID back to the high court for the second time in approximately six months.
Nearly twelve billion dollars in funding that was allotted to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and is due by the end of the fiscal year in September is the subject of this negotiation.
Under the broader umbrella of reducing foreign aid and eliminating so-called “waste, fraud, and abuse,” President Donald Trump cut the majority of those monies almost soon after taking office. This was done in the name of getting rid of “waste, fraud, and abuse.”
In an emergency filing that was sent to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the United States Solicitor General D. John Sauer stated that if the high court did not intervene, the Trump administration would be compelled to “rapidly obligate approximately $12 billion in foreign-aid funds” that are due by September 30, which is the end of the fiscal year.
