One of the individuals is alleged to have received bribes valued at more than $1 million.
Four individuals have pleaded guilty to participating in a bribery scheme involving the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which resulted in 14 contracts worth more than $550 million being improperly awarded to companies involved in the fraud, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a June 12 statement.
Roderick Watson, 57, of Maryland, a USAID contracting officer, pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official. Walter Barnes, 46, of Maryland, the owner of Vistant, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and securities fraud.
Darryl Britt, 64, of Florida, the owner of Apprio Inc., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official. Paul Young, 62, of Maryland, the president of a subcontractor to Vistant and Apprio, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official.
Both Vistant and Apprio are small businesses certified under the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 8(a) contracting program, an initiative aimed at helping businesses deemed to be socially and economically disadvantaged.
According to court documents, the bribery scheme began in 2013 while Watson was a USAID contracting officer, the DOJ said. At the time, Watson allegedly agreed to take bribes from Britt in exchange for using his position at USAID to award contracts to Apprio. Vistant was a subcontractor of Apprio in one of these contracts.
After Apprio was no longer eligible for contracts with USAID, Vistant became the prime contractor and Apprio became the subcontractor for USAID contracts awarded via Watson’s influence between 2018 and 2022, according to court documents.
Apprio and Vistant, both of which contracted with USAID, have “agreed to admit criminal liability” and “engaging in a conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and securities fraud,” the DOJ said in the statement.
During the scheme, Watson is alleged to have received bribes from Britt and Barnes that were often concealed by passing the funds through Young.
“Britt and Barnes also 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 DOJ said.
