USA Bribes and Betrayal: USAID Official at Center of $550M Corruption Scandal

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Bribes and Betrayal: USAID Official at Center of $550M Corruption Scandal

 

A senior official at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has pleaded guilty to accepting over $1 million in bribes in exchange for steering lucrative federal contracts, marking one of the largest bribery scandals in the agency’s history. The scheme, valued at $550 million, involved three businessmen and spanned nearly a decade, casting a dark shadow over an institution meant to serve as a beacon of international goodwill.

 

Roderick Watson, 57, of Maryland, admitted to charges of bribery of a public official and now faces up to 15 years in prison. He is scheduled for sentencing in October. Watson exploited his trusted position at USAID to channel fourteen prime federal contracts to two consulting firms—Apprio and Vistant—in return for an array of personal benefits.

 

According to the Department of Justice, Watson’s partners in the scheme included Walter Barnes, the owner of Vistant; Darryl Britt, the owner of Apprio; and Paul Young, the president of a subcontractor used by both firms. Young served as an intermediary to obscure the bribes being funneled to Watson. All three businessmen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official, with Barnes also admitting to securities fraud. Each man faces up to five years in prison.

 

The scheme began in 2013, when Watson agreed to help Britt’s company, Apprio, secure federal contracts through the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program for disadvantaged businesses. When Apprio later graduated from the program, Watson pivoted and started steering contracts toward Vistant, which was then acting as a subcontractor to Apprio. Between 2018 and 2022, the fraudulent arrangement continued in full force.

 

In exchange for his influence, Watson received cash payments, expensive electronics, luxury sports tickets, a lavish country club wedding, downpayments on two homes, jobs for family members, and even cell phones. To mask the illicit transactions, the conspirators used shell companies, fake invoices, and falsified payroll records.

 

Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, condemned the fraud. “The defendants sought to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers through bribery and fraud,” he said in a statement. “Their scheme violated the public trust by corrupting the federal government’s procurement process.” Galeotti added, “Anybody who cares about good and effective government should be concerned about the waste, fraud, and abuse in government agencies, including USAID.”

 

The scandal also reignited political debate over the integrity of USAID. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who led the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), made dismantling the agency one of his key priorities. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump doubled down on that sentiment, declaring from the Oval Office, “USAID’s spending was mostly corrupt or ridiculous. The whole thing is a fraud.”

 

Musk, never one to mince words, previously claimed the agency was being run like a “criminal organization” by a “viper’s nest of radical left Marxists who hate America.” Under DOGE’s leadership, the department eliminated over $8 billion in funding and terminated nearly all USAID employees and contractors in what it described as a sweeping anti-corruption initiative.

 

While the full consequences of the scandal are still unfolding, the case has already intensified scrutiny of federal contracting processes and the oversight—or lack thereof—at USAID. As the justice system prepares to sentence those involved, the fallout serves as a stark warning of how deeply corruption can penetrate the very institutions meant to promote transparency and global development.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from NYP  2025-06-16

 

 

[Tug]

NYP sigh….anyway throw the crook in prison.

[dinsdale]

Tip of an iceberg.

[Jim Blue]

Sorry how do we get from 1 million in bribes split between 3 people over

yeas and years on ......and 550 million in contracts.?

Sounds like Trump's lunch money !

[Dcheech]

28 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Tip of an iceberg.

Must be happy with BIDEN & the feds bringing him to justice.  His cohorts in crime pled guilty in October & June of 2024. Roderick being the last to cop a plea. Interesting, the NYP does not mention those facts.