Mathieu G. Zahui, the Director of Financial Management at the United States African Development Foundation (USADF), has agreed to plead guilty to charges of accepting gratuities from a USADF contractor and making false statements to federal law enforcement officers. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Zahui, 59, from Fairfax, Virginia, is charged with one count of accepting gratuities and one count of making a false statement. He faces up to two years in prison for the gratuities charge and up to five years for the false statement charge. A plea hearing will be scheduled by a federal district court judge, who will later determine any sentence based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other legal factors.
“President Trump has made it clear that he will put an end to the fraud, waste and abuse that was commonplace throughout these agencies,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “There will be serious consequences whenever corruption is unearthed, whether at the U.S. African Development Foundation or any other foundation.”
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva stated: “Mathieu Zahui is charged with accepting payments from a government contractor and then abusing his position by directing USADF funds to that contractor for little-to-no work. Corruption by senior officials representing the United States cheats American taxpayers and rigs the system against honest work. This plea agreement demonstrates the Criminal Division’s pursuit of bad actors who engage in waste and abuse in government contracting.”
Acting Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Sean M. Bottary commented: “The USADF Director of Financial Management’s fraudulent acts betrayed the trust of the American people. As the Inspector General with continued oversight jurisdiction over U.S.-funded foreign assistance, we will utilize our global investigative reach to aggressively detect and disrupt those who defraud taxpayer dollars programmed overseas.”
According to court documents, Zahui arranged for USADF vendors and contractors to be paid through Company-1, a Kenya-based company owned by CC-1, whom Zahui had known for over 20 years. Between June 2020 and December 2023, Company-1 acted as an intermediary for payments instead of USADF paying vendors directly.
Zahui approved invoices from Company-1 that included mark-ups ranging from 17% to 66%, even when no additional work was performed by Company-1. In one case, when USADF owed money to a staffing vendor, Zahui instructed that vendor to invoice Company-1 rather than USADF directly; Company-1 then billed USADF with an added mark-up exceeding $20,000 despite providing no services.
Overall, more than 20 such invoices resulted in at least $617,625 paid by USADF to Company-1; out of this amount, $134,886 was retained as mark-up fees by Company-1. In return for facilitating these transactions as well as other official acts benefiting Company-1, Zahui received $12,000 in cash payments from CC-1.
Neither Zahui nor CC-1 disclosed these actions to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service which oversaw external payments made by USADF. Additionally, invoices falsely claimed logistical support had been provided when none occurred—for example, a $50,000 membership fee payment was routed through Company-1 with an extra $9,900 mark-up labeled as "logistical assistance support."
When questioned by federal agents in 2024 about his relationship with CC-1, Zahui denied receiving benefits but had actually accepted $12,000 in cash payments.
The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Inspector General (USAID-OIG). Prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sungtae Kang for the District of Columbia and Assistant Chief Kyle Hankey from the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
