Posted on 06/29/2025 2:59:19 AM PDT by Libloather
Following the uncovering of a massive bribery scandal at USAID, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is ordering a full audit of all government contracting officers who have exercised grant-awarding authority under the agency’s business development program over the last 15 years.
**SNIP**
Despite claims of how much good the agency was doing, it was recently discovered that an influential contracting officer at USAID named Roderick Watson was able to carry out a massive, long-term bribery scheme dating all the way back to 2013.
Watson, 57, pleaded guilty to "bribery of a public official," according to a DOJ press release.
According to the DOJ, Watson sold his influence starting in 2013, with contractors Walter Barnes, owner of Vistant, and Darryl Britt, owner of Apprio, funneling payoffs through subcontractor Paul Young to hide their tracks.
A DOJ press release said that Britt and Barnes "regularly funneled bribes to Watson, including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives. The bribes were also often concealed through electronic bank transfers falsely listing Watson on payroll, incorporated shell companies, and false invoices."
The statement said that Watson is alleged to have received bribes "valued at more than approximately $1 million as part of the scheme."
Vistant was awarded in November 2023, as part of a joint venture, a contract worth up to $800 million with one of the focuses of that contract being to address "a variety of issues affecting the root causes of irregular migration from Central America to the United States," an issue that President Joe Biden tasked then-Vice President Kamala Harris with during his presidency.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/harris-climate-adaptation-resilience-root-causes-migrant-crisis
EXCELLENT
THANK YOU. Appreciate your post
You get a Rico
and you get a Rico
and you get a Rico!
Hopefully this will ensnare a bunch of Democrats.
It’s a 3 fer today Yogi!!
bttt
Is Booboo going to be surprised here?
OMG!! The CRIMINALS ARE BLACK!!! I AM SHOCKED!
Democrat corruption is a redundancy.
Dems never seem to want to fix a problem. They prefer to study “ root causes”. Those studies cost the taxpayers millions and mostly accomplish nothing.
COVFEFE, COVFAFO
😂
Yogi?
Um, reparations?
/sarc
I’ve tried to get SBA help for some friends. Reality is if you are not “connected,” the SBA is useless.
Can anyone explain why the Mayorkas abomination is not in shackles somewhere in prison? Is his name too sacred to report on?
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Stealing that 😂
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.