Millions of dollars in USAID money funded terrorism, investigation shows

By BETHANY BLANKLEY | THE CENTER SQUARE

Of the billions of tax dollars spent by the U.S. Agency for International Development Office that are being questioned by the Trump administration, millions went to fund terrorism.

A multi-year investigation brought by the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia reveals the scope of how funds were used in one recent terrorism-related case.

“The case represents one of the most significant diversions of USAID-funded humanitarian aid that USAID-OIG has investigated,” USAID’s Office of Inspector General said.

It involved a Syrian national, Mahmoud Al Hafyan, who was charged with illegally diverting more than $9 million of taxpayer money through USAID to armed combatant groups, including the Al-Nusrah Front (ANF), a designated foreign terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaida in Iraq.

According to the indictment, Al Hafyan led a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Syria, managing 160 employees.

Since Syria’s civil war began in 2011, and through 2020, U.S. taxpayers funded more than $12 billion of USAID money to Syria intended for food and medical supplies that was supposed to be administered by United Nations agencies and NGOs.

The NGO that Al Hafyan led received $122 million over a three year period, diverting food kits meant for refugees to ANF commanders, according to the complaint. ANF, fighting to overthrow the Syrian government, was known for committing human rights atrocities, including conducting mass executions of civilians, suicide bombings and kidnappings.

Al Hafyan allegedly sold the food kits on the black market to the ANF commanders, falsifying documents to make it seem like refugees were receiving the food.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, USAID OIG, and the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division were involved in the case.

“This defendant not only defrauded the U.S. government, but he also gave the humanitarian aid he stole to a foreign terrorist organization,” U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves said in November. “While this foreign terrorist organization fought with the cruel al-Assad regime, the people who were supposed to receive the aid suffered.”

Some other examples of misuse of USAID funds prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia relate to a range of fraud schemes.

In one case, a former executive of a digital consulting firm in Delaware agreed to pay a $100,000 settlement to resolve allegations that he knowingly caused company employees to submit false claims to USAID in order to receive government contracts, overbill and charge for work that was never performed, according to a 2022 complaint.

In another case, a global health nonprofit organization based in San Diego agreed to pay nearly $550,000 to resolve allegations that it knowingly submitted false claims to USAID to receive grants to purportedly provide agricultural and other aid to developing countries.

In another case, the International Rescue Committee agreed to pay $6.9 million to settle allegations under the False Claims Act related to USAID-funded programming related to the civil war in Syria. The money IRC received was intended for humanitarian assistance but IRC staff participated in a kickback scheme with a Turkish supply ring involving contract bid rigging instead, according to the complaint.

In another case, a former NGO official was sentenced to 40 months in prison for paying bribes to NGO officers in exchange for sensitive procurement information related to NGO contracts partially funded by USAID. In this case, for five years, a Turkmenistan citizen coordinated a bid-rigging scheme, instructed employees to lie to law enforcement agents and destroyed emails related to the investigation, according to the complaint.

In another case, a former USAID deputy director and resident of Maryland pled guilty to charges related to a contract-steering scheme, conspiracy to defraud the United States and making false statements to law enforcement, according to the complaint.