The Trump administration is investigating government contracting officers after massive fraud was uncovered at the beleaguered USAID. Earlier in June, four men, including a government contracting officer for USAID, and three business owners pleaded guilty in a bribery scheme worth over $550 million dollars.
Subsequently, the head of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Kelly Loeffler has directed Associate Administrator Tre Pennie to initiate a full-scale audit of the agency’s 8(a) Business Development Program.
“In recent years, SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program has seen rampant fraud – and increasingly egregious instances of abuse,” said Loeffler. “Effective immediately, I am launching a full-scale audit of the program to stop bad actors from making the kind of backroom deals that have already cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. We must hold both contracting officers and 8(a) participants accountable – and start rewarding merit instead of those who game the system.”
USAID contractor Roderick Watson pled guilty to bribery of a public official, while Vistant owner Walter Barnes, Apprio owner Darryl Britt, and Paul Young, a subcontractor, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official. Apprio and Vistant also admitted to committing securities fraud.
Apprio was a certified small business under the SBA 8(a) contracting program while Vistant was its subcontractor. When Apprio grew out of the program, the roles were reversed.
According to the Department of Justice, Watson had sold his influence since 2013, with Barnes and Britt laundering payoffs through Young to throw auditors off track. Using his position, Watson helped the companies bypass the fair bidding process and win contracts worth over $550 million, for which he received $1 million in bribes.
“Britt and Barnes also 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 DOJ stated. “The bribes were also often concealed through electronic bank transfers falsely listing Watson on payroll, incorporated shell companies, and false invoices.”
According to the SBA, one of the contractors, Vistant, who had been flagged for lacking honesty and integrity, received an additional $800 million worth of federal government contracts to evaluate the causes of irregular migration from Central America. Former President Joe Biden had delegated that task to failed Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
That contract was later cancelled after it emerged that Vistant had been flagged for lacking integrity. However, the contractor sued the Biden administration and was re-awarded the contract.
“Anybody who cares about good and effective government should be concerned about the waste, fraud, and abuse in government agencies, including USAID,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
It raises questions about why Democrats have for years vehemently opposed the audit of the USAID during both the Biden and Trump administrations.
I have been saying this since I left the government in 1998. Too many ways to commit fraud. And getting money for a useless job is fraud. After I left the government, the company I was with was going for a contract for which we were the obvious choice. Because of the type, the contracting officer had to have 3 potential sources. All of a sudden, he snuck in that he was adding a fourth potential source – making unnecessary work for himself (something that just never happens). Smelling a rat – he was transferring in from another center – I did some checking. Turns out that late add company had just hired his daughter. Pure sleaze – I called the head of procurement, discussed the situation and he was removed from the procurement. Fraud is real – I wonder how much of it gets funneled back as campaign contributions to the dems. Watch – fake news like msnbc and cnn talk a lot about contributions drying up because the big donors are shy. It’s also because these taxpayer-funded shams are now exposed and stopped.