Overview
- The Justice Department filed a criminal information and said Mathieu Zahui will plead guilty, with a federal judge to schedule the plea hearing and determine any sentence.
- From June 2020 through December 2023, he approved more than 20 pass-through invoices that caused at least $617,625.49 in USADF payments to a Kenya-based company owned by a longtime contractor associate.
- Court filings state the company kept $134,886.34 as mark-ups while providing no logistical support despite that claim on invoices.
- Investigators say Zahui accepted $12,000 in cash from the contractor tied to the company and later denied receiving benefits during a 2024 interview with federal agents.
- USAID’s Office of Inspector General is investigating, and prosecutors from DOJ’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. are handling the case; the charges carry maximum penalties of two years and five years in prison.