The chief financial officer at the African Development Foundation has confirmed the Trump administration’s claims of fraud by agreeing to plead guilty to directing hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to a friend who performed little actual work.
Mathieu Zahui, using his perch at ADF, used his friend’s company as a conduit for money to other vendors, but paid outrageous markups to his friend’s company — up to 66% of the cost of the contract — to act as the pass-through, prosecutors said Friday.
He then received kickbacks, prosecutors said. But “little-to-no actual work” was performed.
He also lied to investigators in 2024 when they first asked about the arrangement, authorities said.
Sean M. Bottary, acting assistant inspector general at the U.S. Agency for International Development, said Mr. Zahui “betrayed the trust of the American people.”
ADF is an independent aid agency that ships taxpayer money to organizations that promise to promote health and welfare in Africa.
It has been a target for the Trump team and its Department of Government Efficiency, which sought to eviscerate the agency, moving to oust its board, cancel contracts and reduce it to the bare minimum of activity called for by law.
That effort has been hindered in the courts, and the legal battle is ongoing.
Fraud worries have been persistent.
The comptroller general last year issued a scathing report finding that ADF had “no strategic approach for mitigating fraud, waste or abuse.”
Prosecutors filed a criminal information in federal court in Washington Friday, charging Mr. Zahui with accepting an illegal gratuity and lying to a federal official. The Justice Department said Mr. Zahui has agreed to plead guilty.
Neither the friend nor the pass-through company was named in court documents.
