Federal Contract Official and Businessmen Plead Guilty in Bribery Scheme
A federal contract official and three businessmen admitted their guilt on Thursday in a significant bribery scheme exceeding $550 million connected to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Roderick Watson, a 57-year-old from Maryland, allegedly accepted over $1 million in bribes during his time at USAID. He pleaded guilty to bribery against a civil servant and could face up to 15 years in prison, with sentencing set for October.
The intricate scheme involved Walter Barnes, owner of Vistant, and Darryl Britt, owner of Apprio. They collaborated with Paul Young, who leads the subcontractor working with both Vistant and Apprio, according to the Department of Justice.
Each of the businessmen confessed to a conspiracy aimed at bribery of a civil servant, with Barnes also being guilty of securities fraud.
The DOJ noted that this unlawful activity traces back to 2013. Britt’s firm initially qualified for a government contract as it was labeled a “socially and economically disadvantaged” business by the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Once Apprio completed the SBA 8(a) program, the bribery operations pivoted, leading Watson to grant naive contracts to Barnes’ Vistant Company—essentially an Apprio subcontractor—between 2018 and 2022, all in exchange for various incentives.
Payments to USAID officials included cash, laptops, NBA game suite tickets, lavish country club weddings, two mortgages, and even cell phones, all part of the corrupt scheme.
The illicit operations employed shell companies, forged invoices, and bogus payroll documents to mask their misdeeds.
Barnes, aged 46, Britt at 64, and Young, 62, face potential imprisonment of up to five years each.
Matthew Galeotti, the criminal director at the Justice Department, remarked, “The defendants sought to enrich themselves at the cost of American taxpayers through bribery and fraud. Their actions betray public trust and undermine the federal procurement system.”
He expressed concern that anyone invested in effective governance should be worried about corruption in government agencies like USAID.
There’s also the broader context, with billionaire Elon Musk, under the Trump administration, targeting USAID for what he claims is wastefulness and corruption. President Trump himself labeled USAID spending as largely “corrupted or ridiculous,” suggesting it resembles a “criminal organization.”
This push has led to significant layoffs in USAID, with attempts to cut down expenditures by more than $8 billion.
