United States Department of Justice (DOJ) Announced 1 USAID Contracting Officer & 3 Company Owners Pleaded Guilty to Decade-Long Bribery Scheme for $550 Million of Contracts, USAID Officer Roderick Watson (Age 57) Received Cash & Lavish Gifts from PM Consulting Group (Vistant) President Walter Barnes (Age 46), Apprio President Darryl Britt (Age 64) & President of Subcontractor Paul Young (Age 62)
17th June | Hong Kong
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced 1 USAID contracting officer & 3 company owners have pleaded guilty to decade-long bribery scheme for $550 million of contracts. USAID officer Roderick Watson (Age 57) had received cash & lavish gifts from PM Consulting Group (Vistant) President Walter Barnes (Age 46), Apprio President Darryl Britt (Age 64) & President of subcontractor Paul Young (Age 62). United States DOJ (12/6/25): “Four men, including a government contracting officer for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and three owners and presidents of companies, have pleaded guilty for their roles in a decade-long bribery scheme involving at least 14 prime contracts worth over $550 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars. 1) Roderick Watson, 57, of Woodstock, Maryland, who worked as a USAID contracting officer, pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official; 2) Walter Barnes, 46, of Potomac, Maryland, who was the owner and president of PM Consulting Group LLC doing business as Vistant (Vistant), a certified small business under the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) contracting program, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and securities fraud; 3) Darryl Britt, 64, of Myakka City, Florida, who was the owner and president of Apprio, Inc. (Apprio), a certified small business under the SBA 8(a) contracting program, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official; and 4) Paul Young, 62, of Columbia, Maryland, who was the president of a subcontractor to Vistant and Apprio, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official … … In addition, Apprio and Vistant, both of which contracted with USAID, have agreed to admit criminal liability and enter into three-year deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) in connection with criminal informations filed today in the District of Maryland. As part of these resolutions, both Apprio and Vistant admitted to engaging in a conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and securities fraud. The DPAs entered into with Apprio and Vistant require each company to, among other obligations, provide ongoing cooperation with and disclosures to the Justice Department, implement a compliance and ethics program, and report to Justice Department regarding remediation and implementation of these compliance measures.” More info below:
“ United States Department of Justice (DOJ) Announced 1 USAID Contracting Officer & 3 Company Owners Pleaded Guilty to Decade-Long Bribery Scheme for $550 Million of Contracts, USAID Officer Roderick Watson (Age 57) Received Cash & Lavish Gifts from PM Consulting Group (Vistant) President Walter Barnes (Age 46), Apprio President Darryl Britt (Age 64) & President of Subcontractor Paul Young (Age 62) “
Overview of Bribery Scheme
- According to court documents, beginning in 2013, Watson, while a USAID contracting officer, agreed with Britt to receive bribes in exchange for using Watson’s influence to award contracts to Apprio. As a certified small business under the SBA 8(a) contracting program, which helps socially and economically disadvantaged businesses, Apprio could access lucrative federal contracting opportunities through set-asides and sole-source contracts exclusively available to eligible contractors without a competitive bid process.
- Vistant was a subcontractor to Apprio on one of the contracts awarded through Watson’s influence. After Apprio graduated from the SBA 8(a) program and it was no longer eligible to be a prime contractor for new contracts with USAID under this program, the scheme shifted so that Vistant became the prime contractor and Apprio became the subcontractor on USAID contracts awarded through Watson’s influence between 2018 and 2022.
- During the scheme, Britt and Barnes paid bribes to Watson that were often concealed by passing them through Young, who was the president of another subcontractor to Apprio and Vistant. Britt and Barnes also regularly funneled bribes to Watson, including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives. The bribes were also often concealed through electronic bank transfers falsely listing Watson on payroll, incorporated shell companies, and false invoices. Watson is alleged to have received bribes valued at more than approximately $1 million as part of the scheme.
- In exchange for the bribe payments, Watson influenced the award of contracts to Apprio and Vistant by manipulating the procurement process at USAID through various means, including recommending their companies to other USAID decisionmakers for non-competitive contract awards, disclosing sensitive procurement information during the competitive bidding process, providing positive performance evaluations to a government agency, and approving decisions on the contracts, such as increased funding and a security clearance.
- Apprio and Vistant also agreed to resolve concurrently with the Justice Department in its separate Civil False Claims Act investigations relating to the bribery scheme.
Profile – USAID is the lead U.S. Government agency that works to end extreme global poverty and enable resilient, democratic societies to realize their potential. U.S. foreign assistance has always had the twofold purpose of furthering America’s interests while improving lives in the developing world. USAID carries out U.S. foreign policy by promoting broad-scale human progress at the same time it expands stable, free societies, creates markets and trade partners for the United States, and fosters good will abroad.
United States Department of Justice (DOJ) Announced 1 USAID Contracting Officer & 3 Company Owners Pleaded Guilty to Decade-Long Bribery Scheme for $550 Million of Contracts, USAID Officer Roderick Watson (Age 57) Received Cash & Lavish Gifts from PM Consulting Group (Vistant) President Walter Barnes (Age 46), Apprio President Darryl Britt (Age 64) & President of Subcontractor Paul Young (Age 62)
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