USAID Bribery Scandal Nets First Convictions

hotair.com

I suppose you could be forgiven for not noticing that the Justice Department just netted four guilty pleas from a USAID employee and corporate executives who conspired to bribe him. 

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After all, it was only $550 million stolen from the US taxpayer, so the media ignored it. And, to be fair, a few other things grabbed people's attention yesterday and today. 

BREAKING: USAID official and 3 company executives plead guilty in fraud and bribery scheme involving at least 14 contracts worth over $550 million

USAID Official Roderick Watson took bribes, was showered with lavish gifts— including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, cell phones, and jobs for relatives.

In exchange for the bribe payments, Watson influenced the award of contracts by manipulating the procurement process at USAID.

Watson faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Imagine how much more fraud there is…

No big deal. It was a good investment. A few tens or hundreds of thousands to a corrupt USAID official who had every reason to believe that nobody would care if he funneled money to people who were just a little bit more friendly to him than others were. 

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Four men, including a government contracting officer for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and three owners and presidents of companies, have pleaded guilty for their roles in a decade-long bribery scheme involving at least 14 prime contracts worth over $550 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars.

Roderick Watson, 57, of Woodstock, Maryland, who worked as a USAID contracting officer, pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official;

Walter Barnes, 46, of Potomac, Maryland, who was the owner and president of PM Consulting Group LLC doing business as Vistant (Vistant), a certified small business under the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) contracting program, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and securities fraud;

Darryl Britt, 64, of Myakka City, Florida, who was the owner and president of Apprio, Inc. (Apprio), a certified small business under the SBA 8(a) contracting program, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official; and

Paul Young, 62, of Columbia, Maryland, who was the president of a subcontractor to Vistant and Apprio, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official.

In addition, Apprio and Vistant, both of which contracted with USAID, have agreed to admit criminal liability and enter into three-year deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) in connection with criminal informations filed today in the District of Maryland. As part of these resolutions, both Apprio and Vistant admitted to engaging in a conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and securities fraud. The DPAs entered into with Apprio and Vistant require each company to, among other obligations, provide ongoing cooperation with and disclosures to the Justice Department, implement a compliance and ethics program, and report to Justice Department regarding remediation and implementation of these compliance measures.

“The defendants sought to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers through bribery and fraud,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Their scheme violated the public trust by corrupting the federal government’s procurement process. Anybody who cares about good and effective government should be concerned about the waste, fraud, and abuse in government agencies, including USAID. Those who engage in bribery schemes to exploit the U.S. Small Business Administration’s vital economic programs for small businesses — whether individuals or corporations acting through them — will be held to account.” 

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It sounds like the executives and companies got off lightly, although I suspect they were given consideration in exchange for helping net the guilty plea out of Wilson, the USAID official. 

No doubt liberals will complain that this is persecution. I call it a FAFO moment. 

Americans grossly underestimate the amount of corruption in our system, much of which is not quite illegal. Outright bribes are less common than other kinds of quid pro quos, such as promises of lucrative jobs after a time in government service, but it amounts to the same thing: taxpayers getting ripped off by con men. 

We need a lot more of this, so hopefully this is the tip of the iceberg. Faster, please. There are only 3 1/2 years left in Trump's term.