A USAID official and three contractors pleaded guilty to a $550 million bribery scheme

An official of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and three contractors pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme that lasted more than ten years. According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), some 14 contracts were worth more than $550 million. Those involved are Roderick Watson, Walter Barnes, Darryl Britt and Paul Young.

According to a statement released by the DOJ, the bribery scheme began in 2013, when Watson was a USAID contracting officer. At that time, he agreed with Britt to receive kickbacks in exchange for using his influence to award contracts to the company Apprio.

The company would benefit from its certification as a small business under the SBA 8(a) contracting program that assists socially and economically disadvantaged businesses: "Apprio could access lucrative federal contracting opportunities through set-aside and sole-source contracts, available exclusively to eligible contractors without the need for a competitive bidding process."

"The defendants sought to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers through bribery and fraud," Matthew R. Galeotti, head of the Department of Justice's Criminal Division, testified about the case.

"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," he added.

As for the role of the others involved, Vistant was a subcontractor on one of the Apprio contracts awarded under Watson's influence, while Britt and Barnes paid kickbacks to Watson.

"In exchange for the bribe payments, Watson influenced the award of contracts to Apprio and Vistant by manipulating the procurement process at USAID through various means, including recommending their companies to other USAID decisionmakers for non-competitive contract awards," the DOJ added.

Watson is scheduled for sentencing on October 6 and faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Meanwhile, Young, Britt and Barnes will face a maximum of five years behind bars.