The U.S. African Development Foundation’s finance director has been charged with taking gratuities from a contractor and lying to federal agents about those payments, allegations that involve pass-through invoicing, markups, and at least $12,000 in cash payments.
The Department of Justice announced charges against Mathieu Zahui, 59, of Fairfax, Virginia, who called himself the “CFO” of the United States African Development Foundation (USADF). He has agreed to plead guilty to accepting gratuities from a USADF contractor and to making false statements to federal law enforcement officers about those payments. The case centers on a Kenya-based company identified as Company-1, which acted as a pass-through for USADF payments to vendors.
Prosecutors say Zahui arranged for Company-1 to receive payments that otherwise would have gone directly to vendors, and Company-1 added significant markups even when it provided no services. Between June 2020 and December 2023, Company-1 submitted more than 20 pass-through invoices that Zahui approved. Those invoices led to at least $617,625.49 being paid to Company-1, with Company-1 retaining $134,886.34 as markup.
The markup rates on those invoices ranged from 17% to 66% above the actual vendor amounts, according to court documents, and Zahui allegedly approved them despite knowing Company-1 had done no related work. In one example, an overdue staffing vendor was directed to invoice Company-1 rather than USADF, and Company-1 then invoiced USADF for the past-due amount plus an extra markup of over $20,000. Other invoices falsely claimed Company-1 had provided “logistical support” when it had not.
Prosecutors also say Zahui accepted direct cash payments tied to the pass-through scheme. In total, he is alleged to have taken $12,000 in cash from CC-1 in connection with Company-1’s contracting and invoicing. When federal agents questioned him in 2024 about his relationship with Company-1, he reportedly denied receiving any benefits, a statement the indictment says was false.
Officials framed the case as a straightforward abuse of public trust and taxpayer dollars. “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,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. Corruption at this level undermines honest contracting and wastes resources intended for public purposes.
Agency oversight agents underlined the broader accountability angle. “The USADF Director of Financial Management’s fraudulent acts betrayed the trust of the American people,” said Acting Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Sean M. Bottary of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Inspector General (USAID-OIG). The OIG emphasized its global investigative reach and intention to detect and disrupt fraud in U.S.-funded foreign assistance.
The documents give a specific example of how the scheme was applied to an unrelated organizational expense. In late 2020, rather than pay a $50,000 membership fee directly to a professional group serving the African diaspora, Zahui allegedly had Company-1 submit an invoice that included the $50,000 fee plus a $9,900.08 markup, again claiming nonexistent logistical assistance. That invoice helped conceal the pass-through arrangement and the improper mark-up.
Zahui has agreed to plead guilty to one count of accepting gratuities from Company-1 and one count of making a false statement to a federal law enforcement officer. The gratuities charge carries a maximum of two years in prison and the false statement charge carries a maximum of five years. Sentencing will be determined by a federal judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The investigation is being conducted by USAID-OIG, and the case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Kyle Hankey of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section together with Assistant U.S. Attorney Sungtae Kang for the District of Columbia. That prosecutorial team will schedule the plea hearing and move the case through federal court as the record develops.
