The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced on July 29 that it reached a civil settlement agreement with Carleena Graham, the former Vice President of Human Resources for World Learning. Graham has agreed to pay $160,000 to resolve allegations that she violated the False Claims Act by submitting false invoices to her employer for reimbursement of expenses that benefitted her personally and organizations with which she was affiliated.
World Learning is a nonprofit global development and exchange organization that delivers educational and professional training programs internationally. The organization receives funds from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and U.S. Department of State through various grants, contracts, and negotiated indirect cost rate agreements totaling several million dollars.
According to the government, from approximately 2015 to 2022, Graham orchestrated a scheme in which she submitted false invoices to World Learning for reimbursement of hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses. As part of this scheme, Graham arranged for goods and services to be delivered to third-party organizations while arranging payment through World Learning’s bank account or credit cards. The government also found that Graham falsified vendor invoices so they appeared as if World Learning was the recipient. By doing so, officials contend Graham misappropriated funds received from USAID and the State Department.
The settlement follows a joint investigation by the USAID Office of Inspector General and State Department Office of Inspector General after Graham’s guilty plea in the District of Vermont to one count of wire fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 related to this conduct.
The civil settlement resulted from efforts by Assistant United States Attorney Sam Escher and Auditor Timothy J. Hurley, with support from Special Agents at USAID and State Department Offices of Inspector General. Officials noted that “the claims resolved by the civil settlement are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.”