how fraud and corruption works: USAID and chimonics

bureau of investigative Journalism: A new investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Devex can reveal major failings in the largest ever project funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The $9.5bn initiative, led by US contractor Chemonics International, launched in 2016 with the aim of transforming the way life-saving medicines and other health supplies were bought and delivered to millions of people in poorer countries. But interviews with insiders, as well as exclusive data analysis, can reveal that the project’s inefficiencies have alarmed both senior project staff and high-ranking US government officials. In some cases it has taken almost two years to deliver key supplies.

The Global Fund’s OIG also alleged in 2021 that it had uncovered a multimillion-dollar fraud committed by a Chemonics subcontractor in Nigeria. A Global Fund report found that “Chemonics’ controls were poorly implemented by negligent staff who missed key red flags” and that an unnamed senior project director was “living substantially beyond their Chemonics salary”. USAID’s own watchdog is now investigating.

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https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2025/02/03/usaid-chemonics-credence-layoffs-furloughs.html