Interactive Research and Development South Africa NPC has agreed to pay $671,914 to resolve allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act by knowingly submitting to USAID false claims for payment related to the company's employees who were allegedly not working.

The case was investigated by USAID OIG and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina.

USAID OIG initiated an investigation into an allegation that a former USAID mission director was the client of a commercial sex ring.

OIG worked with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security to investigate the allegations. 

They found evidence showing that the former mission director posted online reviews of over 40 sex workers located in the United States and overseas. He told special agents that he had solicited and paid sex workers while on temporary duty assignments and while he was posted overseas as a USAID foreign service officer. 

The U.S. Department of Justice declined to pursue Federal criminal charges against the former mission director—a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer. OIG provided a report to USAID for action.

USAID OIG initiated an investigation into allegations that bread provided under a USAID award was diverted from the intended beneficiaries—the refugee families of Islamic State of Iraq and Syrian fighters—located in the al-Hol Camp in Northeast Syria. OIG found that the Asayish (Internal Security Forces of North and East Syria) and the al-Hol Camp Administration diverted the aid from the intended beneficiaries to themselves.

USAID OIG initiated an investigation into an allegation that a former employee of a USAID grantee embezzled Agency funds.

OIG found that the former grantee employee stole more than $193,000 from programs in Zambia funded by USAID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Navy, and the National Institutes of Health. The individual entered into a repayment agreement with the grantee, which repaid the funds to the respective government agencies.

The Department of Justice declined to pursue Federal criminal charges against the grantee’s former employee. OIG provided a report to USAID for action.

USAID OIG initiated an investigation into an allegation that a GS-14 USAID employee worked remotely in North Carolina while receiving locality pay for the Washington, DC, area.

OIG found that the employee worked primarily in North Carolina between October 2022 and April 2023 and received locality pay adjustments for Federal employees working in the Washington, DC area. OIG estimated the employee was overpaid more than $9,800 due to the higher pay rate in the nation’s capital.

The US Department of Justice declined to pursue Federal criminal charges against the employee. OIG provided a report to USAID for action.

USAID OIG investigators alongside the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Task Force investigated a case where an individual was indicted for fraud involving COVID-19 relief funds.  

Read the full press release below. 

In August, we issued an evaluation assessing USAID's planning, execution, and oversight of humanitarian assistance to Gaza through the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) maritime corridor.

Our review concluded that USAID had limited control over the decision to use JLOTS, where the temporary pier would be located, and who would provide security on the beach and during transportation of JLOTS-delivered aid to UN warehouse in Gaza for distribution. These issues, coupled with high winds and rough seas in the Mediterranean Sea near the Gaza coast, impaired the Agency's ability to deliver the intended amounts of aid through the maritime corridor. In the end, the JLOTS maritime corridor operated intermittently for 20 days instead of the intended 90 days and during that period delivered food and supplies for 450,000 people for 1 month instead of the planned 1.5 million people over 3 months.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, USAID’s assistance programming in the country increased by more than 224 percent by April 2023. In contrast, USAID’s staffing in Ukraine shrank to 58 percent of pre-invasion levels. Our objective was to determine how USAID responded to challenges associated with its staffing footprint while implementing expanded programming.

We found that USAID took responsible actions to address staffing challenges as a result of the State Department's ordered departure and restrictions on U.S. Government personnel working in Ukraine. We also made key observations about the Agency's actions in Ukraine that can inform future work in complex crisis environments.

This Joint Strategic Oversight Plan describes projects related to Operation Atlantic Resolve (OAR) in Ukraine that the DoD, State, and USAID OIGs, and other U.S. partner oversight agencies intend to conduct during FY 2025. Oversight agencies closely monitor the changing conditions of OAR, and periodically review the purpose and scope of these projects. This joint strategic oversight plan contains 77 planned and ongoing oversight projects for FY 2025.

The Special Inspector General report summarizes U.S. programs and operations from April 1 through June 30, 2024, in support of the U.S. Government’s response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The report describes the oversight work of the DoD, State, and USAID Offices of Inspectors General (OIG), the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the other members of the Ukraine Oversight Interagency Working Group.

Notable developments covered in this new report include:

• Congress in April approved an additional $61 billion for the United States’ Ukraine response, bringing total appropriations since 2022 for the Ukraine response to more than $174 billion.
• NATO concluded Steadfast Defender 24, the largest series of military exercises in Europe since the end of the Cold War.
• The United States and partner countries moved to seize Russian sovereign assets outside of Russian control and transfer them to Ukraine for reconstruction.
• The U.S. Government and international partners deepened efforts to strengthen anticorruption institutions in Ukraine and the broader region.
• USAID continued to support approximately 26,600 small and medium Ukrainian enterprises in areas such as agriculture, information technology, light manufacturing, and apparel.

In addition, robust oversight of the U.S. Ukraine response continued during the reporting period. Between April and June, the OIGs for DoD, State, and USAID and the GAO issued one management advisory and 15 oversight reports while continuing work on 77 additional ongoing oversight projects. The OIGs and other federal law enforcement agencies also had 57 open investigations related to the Ukraine response as of June 30. 

USAID OIG issued a management advisory to the President and CEO of the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF). This advisory communicates a management issue related to USADF’s nonreporting of suspected misuse of grant funds and equipment to the USAID OIG. This management issue came to the OIG's attention during an ongoing inspection of USADF.

The advisory makes three recommendations, one of which is considered closed, and the other two are considered resolved but open pending USADF’s completion of planned activities.

USAID regularly partners with multilateral organizations, including United Nations agencies such as the World Food Programme and UNICEF, and the World Bank. These organizations, also known as public international organizations (PIOs), deliver development and humanitarian assistance in complex, emergency situations. In the past year, USAID has relied heavily on PIOs to implement its humanitarian assistance programming for its pressing responses in Gaza and Ukraine. 

We found that USAID did not consistently use pre-and post-award due diligence mechanisms to ensure effective oversight of PIOs. We made three recommendations to strengthen USAID’s oversight of PIOs.

Read at the links below the full evaluation report and download our flyer on USAID OIG's independent oversight of USAID funding to United Nations Agencies.

This quarterly report describes the activities of the U.S. Government in support of Operation Enduring Sentinel, as well as the work of the DoD, the State, and USAID to further the U.S. Government’s policy goals in Afghanistan during the period of April 1 through June 30, 2024.

This report also discusses the planned, ongoing, and completed oversight work conducted by the Lead IG agencies—the DoD, State, and USAID OIGs—and our partner oversight agencies.

This quarterly report describes the activities of the U.S. Government in support of Operation Inherent Resolve as well as the work of the DoD, State, and the USAID to further the U.S. Government’s policy goals in Iraq and Syria during the period of July 1 through September 30, 2024.

This report also discusses the planned, ongoing, and completed oversight work conducted by the Lead IG agencies—the DoD, State, and USAID OIGs—and our partner oversight agencies

We announced Mr. Derek Santos as our new General Counsel. Mr. Santos brings to the OIG extensive experience in his role delivering legal services to advance the integrity of United States' international development missions worldwide.

He previously served as Deputy General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force, and as the Suspension and Debarment Official for the U.S. Air Force and the Space Force.

Read more about Mr. Santos at the link below. 

We announced Ms. Khadija Walker as our new Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audits, Inspections and Evaluations. Her portfolio covers financial, information technology and external financial audits.

Ms. Walker joins USAID OIG with over two decades of experience at the US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General, where she led teams in audits and evaluations yielding over 35 reports in various areas, including EPA’s response to Hurricanes Katrina and Irma in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Her work also assessed the circumstances and federal responsibility behind the Flint, Michigan and Jackson, Mississippi water crisis.