After the Department of Justice and the IRS discovered a massive bribery scandal within USAID, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has ordered a full audit of all government contracting officers who have used their positions to award grants due to the unbelievable amount of fraud uncovered within the agency, which woke Democrats tried to hide from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) during its intensive audits of federal agencies.
For context, on June 26, 2025, Fox News called the incident at USAID a “massive bribery scandal” and reported that SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler was ordering a major investigation after massive bribery and corruption were uncovered within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The investigation was spurred on by the egregious criminal acts of Roderick Watson, a former USAID contractor who received bribes in exchange for awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to his associates’ companies.
As reported exclusively by Fox News, Loeffler said that the amount of fraud within USAID is a “damning reflection of systemic failures in oversight and accountability.” In addition, she added that the case of Roderick Watson was “not an isolated incident” and ordered Associate SBA Administrator Tre Pennie to “act decisively” and ensure that the contracting process at USAID becomes “transparent and built on merit, not personal gain.”
In addition, in a June 27, 2025, press release, Loeffler explained the investigation further, saying, “In recent years, SBA’s 8(a) Business Development Program has seen rampant fraud – and increasingly egregious instances of abuse.” She added, “Effective immediately, I am launching a full-scale audit of the program to stop bad actors from making the kind of backroom deals that have already cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Furthermore, Loeffler said that the SBA was determined to “hold both contracting officers and 8(a) participants accountable – and start rewarding merit instead of those who game the system.” Moreover, the press release noted that the Department of Justice’s investigation into the issue of bribery revealed the fact that one government contractor “despite being officially flagged by USAID as lacking ‘honesty or integrity,’ went on to receive an additional $800 million in federal contracts to evaluate ‘issues affecting the root causes of irregular migration from Central America.'”
Importantly, the DOJ investigation referred to by Loeffler focused on Roderick Watson, a former USAID employee who worked under the Biden administration and had awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to USAID-affiliated companies as part of a massive corruption scheme. In a June 12, 2025, press release, Guy Ficco, an IRS criminal investigator, said, “Watson exploited his position at USAID to line his pockets with bribes in exchange for more than $550 million in contracts.”
Moreover, Ficco explained that the IRS “works to protect taxpayer dollars” by investigating con men like Watson and ensuring “that government funds are awarded based on merit — not corruption.” He added, “In close coordination with our law enforcement partners, IRS-CI helped put an end to their greed and criminal conduct. Now, Watson and his co-conspirators will face justice.”
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According to press accounts, Watson pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official after it was revealed that two associates received hundreds of millions of dollars in USAID contracts and “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.”
Featured image credit: Kelly Loeffler via X