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After the disclosure A mass scandal with bribery In USAID, small business administration (SBA) orders a complete audit of all state -owned contract staff, which over the past 15 years have been implemented by the grant rewards under the Business Development Agency Development Program.
In a letter received by Fox News Digital, SBA Administrator Kelly Loffler said the scale USAID fraud This is “a damn reflection of systemic failures in the supervision and accountability.” Further, she said that the fraud “was not an isolated incident.”
In response, Loffler instructed associate administrators of Treeni, who controls state contracts, awarded SBA to “act decisively” to hack any potential such abuse in the agency.
Loffler instructed Penni to start a full -scale audit of officers who reward agencies in 2010.
Left: then Senator Kelly Loffler, RT-GA. (AP Photo/John Bazemore and Reuters/Annabelle Gordon)
“The role of officers contracting the federal government is not a ceremonial and independent, which is rather a position of huge power and trusted responsibility,” Loffler said. “The contract process should be transparent and built on merit rather than personal benefits.”
This happens after the USAID agency, which is instructed to manage civic foreign aid, was essentially dismantled by a doctor Waste, fraud and abuse made under Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. The move was met by massive Democrats protests, which claimed that USAID sharply would be impoverished and harmed by recipients around the world.
Despite the claims about how much good the agency was, it was recently found that the influential contractor in USAID named Roderick Watson was able to hold a massive and long -term bribery scheme concerning 2013.
Watson, 57, pleaded guilty Before “bribery of a government official,” the Doj’s press said.
Participants of the rally hold posters like Pete Morocco, Deputy Administrator for the US International Development Agency (USAID), attend a meeting with Congress members to discuss foreign aid, at the Capitolian Hill in Washington, Columbia County, March 5, 2025. (Reuters/Kent Nishimura)
In the hall to DojWatson sold his influence since 2013, and contractors Walter Barns, owner of Vistant, and Darril Brit, the owner of Applio, payments through the subcontractor Paul Yang to hide their tracks.
The DOJ press -release states that Brit and Barns “regularly sent bribes to Watson, including cash, laptops, thousands of luxury tickets in the game in the NBA, wedding in a country club, overpayments on two residential loans, cell phones and jobs. List the heights that list the selection that lists Watson to earn and false accounts. “
The statement said Watson allegedly received a bribe “worth more than about $ 1 million as part of this scheme.”
Vistant was awarded in November 2023 as part of a joint venture, a contract worth up to $ 800 million, and one of the main accents of this contract is to resolve “various issues addressing the root causes of irregular migration from Central America in the US,” the question is the president Joe Biden The task of Kamala President Harris during his presidency.
A worker removes the US Agency for International Development Agency at Kokwater on February 7, 2025 in Washington, Colombia County (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
A few days later, this contract was abolished after USAID published a message stating that Vistant was expelled from state contracts because of “evidence of the lack of honesty and honesty of the business”.
Then the joint venture successfully sued the government for being included in the list of exceptions and was re -contracting and in August 2024 was paid at $ 10,000.
In his letter, Loffler said the USAID scandal “is a collapse in the same guarantees that should protect US dollars and provide fair access to the legitimate small business.”
She cut Biden’s administration for a $ 800 million contract rewards on Vistant, despite the fact that the business was marked by USAID as “honesty and honesty”.
“The fact that the federal official was able to act as a sustainable, large-scale fraud operation, speaks about the failure of internal control and a rupture in a contractual setting that requires immediate correction,” Loffler said.
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The building of small business administration (Office of Government Liability USA)
She said that SBA plays a “critical role” in federal contracts and “will no longer stand as long as the abuse is committed at the expense of taxpayers and deserve small businesses.”
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Loffler said the agency’s audit would start with high contracts and limited competition contracts under the SBA 8 Business Development Program (A). The conclusions will be submitted to the US Inspector General (OIG) and Doj Office.
Any officials or businesses that are in violation of ethical SBA standards or who have committed Criminal violation of the rules will be transferred to the relevant authorities, and SBA will help Doj in the restoration of illegal funds, Loffler said.
“We will not allow confidence in public trust to blur and without verification,” Loffler said.
“We owe this small business in America to do it right,” she continued. “Your office has powers and now the mandate is decisive.”
