NEW: Chief Of USAID-Linked Basis To Plead Responsible In Fraud Case
Mathieu Zahui, a 59-year-old resident of Fairfax, Virginia, agreed to plead guilty to federal charges related to his role at the United States African Development Foundation (USADF).
The USADF is an independent U.S. federal agency established in 1980 to support economic development in Africa through grants to small enterprises and community organizations. It operates with a connection to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) but maintains separate funding and oversight.
Zahui served as the Director of Financial Management and referred to himself as the organization’s chief financial officer on its Facebook page.
Charges against Zahui stem from a scheme involving the misdirection of USADF funds to a contractor in exchange for personal payments. According to court documents, between approximately 2021 and 2023, Zahui directed about $800,000 in payments from the USADF to a Kenya-based company owned by a longtime associate, referred to as CC-1 in legal filings.
This company acted as a pass-through entity, retaining mark-ups ranging from 17 percent to 66 percent, totaling over $134,000, while performing little to no actual work on the grants.
In return, Zahui received $12,000 in cash gratuities from the associate. These actions violated federal regulations prohibiting public officials from accepting payments for official acts, prosecutors said. The investigation was led by the USAID Office of Inspector General (OIG), with support from the Justice Department’s fraud section, according to a DOJ press release.
When questioned about his relationship with the Kenya-based firm in 2024, Zahui falsely stated that he had never received any benefits from it, leading to an additional charge.
Zahui will now be pleading guilty to one count of accepting gratuities under 18 U.S.C. § 201(c), which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison, and one count of making a false statement to a federal law enforcement officer under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which carries a maximum of five years, according to the DOJ.
No specific sentencing date has been publicly announced as of this report, though he a sentencing hearing will soon be scheduled in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
This case occurs amid broader discussions about federal agency oversight. The USADF has been criticized for inefficiencies, with a 2019 executive order under the Trump administration attempting to consolidate or eliminate it due to perceived waste. More recently, in response to Zahui’s case, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the Terminate Unaccountable Spending, Abuse, Deception, and Fraud (USADF) Act, aiming to dissolve the foundation entirely.
Reports also note that Zahui prevented representatives from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing USADF facilities during an audit, which some sources link to efforts to conceal the scheme.