Press Release

WASHINGTON - An Oklahoma man pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to solicit a kickback in connection with the award of a private security services subcontract to protect U.S. government personnel and contractors in Afghanistan, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney of the Antitrust Division and U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia.

WASHINGTON - A 46-year-old former Health Development Officer with the United States Agency for International Development (“USAID”), Michael J. Andreini, pleaded guilty today to one count of Making a False Statement for submitting a fictitious receipt to USAID in support of a travel voucher, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. and Adrienne R. Rish, USAID Assistant Inspector General for Investigations. The Honorable Deborah A. Robinson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia presided over the plea hearing. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 26, 2010.

WASHINGTON, DC - Donald A. Gambatesa, Inspector General for the United States Agency for International Development, announced today that Ali Mohamed Bagegni, 56, formerly of Columbia, Mo., pleaded guilty in Federal court on April 6, 2010, for his role in a conspiracy to illegally transfer funds to Iraq in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

WASHINGTON, DC - The Inspectors General for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of State, and the Department of Defense have issued their first Quarterly Progress and Oversight Report on the Civilian Assistance Program in Pakistan. The report covers the period from October 15, 2009, when the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009 became law, through March 31, 2010.

WASHINGTON, DC - Last week in Kabul Ahman Samim Sediqi, an Afghan citizen working on a community development project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), was arrested by Afghan law enforcement authorities, announced USAID Acting Assistant Inspector for Investigations Dona M. Dinkler. USAID’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Kabul assisted with the investigation that led to the arrest.

Washington, D.C. - This week in Kabul, Development Alternatives, Inc. (DAI) terminated 10 employees including several engineers and other staff members after months of investigation. DAI Afghanistan is a contractor with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

David B.

Washington, DC – Mubarak Hamed pleaded guilty in federal court on June 25, 2010, for his role in a conspiracy to illegally transfer over $1 million to Iraq in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and to obstruct the administration of the laws governing tax-exempt charities, according to Howard “Ike” Hendershot, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

WASHINGTON, DC—Mark Deli Siljander, a former U.S. congressman from Michigan and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, pleaded guilty in federal court on July 7, 2010, to obstruction of justice and to acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the Islamic American Relief Agency (IARA)—a charity with ties to international terrorism, reported Howard “Ike” Hendershot, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Washington, DC – Ahman Samim Sediqi of Kabul, Afghanistan, was tried and sentenced in a local Afghan court on forgery and embezzlement charges stemming from his work on a development project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced USAID Office of Inspector General spokeswoman Dona M. Dinkler.