Press Release

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.

WASHINGTON - A senior construction manager for an intergovernmental organization working in Afghanistan has been detained on a bribery charge contained in an indictment that was unsealed today in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, announced U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Inspector General Donald Gambatesa, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction Arnold Fields, and Assistant Director Kevin Perkins of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. Neil P.

NEWARK, N.J. - The Louis Berger Group, Inc. (LBG), a New Jersey-based engineering consulting company awarded millions in reconstruction contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, has resolved criminal and civil fraud charges related to its international work on behalf of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of Defense.

WASHINGTON, DC - The implementation of U.S. civilian assistance programs in Pakistan continues to face challenges, amid the aftermath of unprecedented flooding in the country, continued security threats, and the loss of Ambassador Holbrooke's leadership in development assistance efforts.

WASHINGTON – Two former humanitarian aid workers were each sentenced today to 142 months in prison for defrauding the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) of roughly $1.9 million that was meant to assist impoverished people and towns in Liberia.

The sentencings, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, were announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer, and Donald A. Gambatesa, Inspector General of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Washington, DC – On April 29, 2011, Abdul Ghaffar Adib was found guilty and sentenced to 1½ years in prison by a local Afghan court after child pornography was found on his work computer. Adib, who was an employee of DAI, (formerly known as Development Alternative Initiatives) worked on a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

WASHINGTON – The Academy for Educational Development (AED) in Washington, D.C., has agreed to settle allegations that the company submitted false claims to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in connection with two cooperative agreements under which AED provided foreign assistance in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Justice Department announced today.

WASHINGTON - Michael A. Hase, 63, a former employee with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), pled guilty today to federal charges of theft of government property and filing a false income tax return.

The plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., Inspector General Donald A. Gambatesa of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Jeannine A. Hammett, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Washington, D.C. Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation.