❓WHAT HAPPENED: Mathieu G. Zahui, the Director of Financial Management for the United States African Development Foundation (USADF), agreed to plead guilty in federal court on Friday to criminal allegations that he accepted kickbacks from a USADF contractor and attempted to hide the scheme from federal law enforcement.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Mathieu G. Zahui, the USADF, a Kenyan company owned by Zahui’s friend, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
📍WHEN & WHERE: Zahui pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday, January 30, 2026.
💬KEY QUOTE: “President Trump has made it clear that he will put an end to the fraud, waste, and abuse that was commonplace throughout these agencies.” — U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro
🎯IMPACT: Zahui was the center of controversy last year when he tried to bar DOGE from accessing the USADF’s financial books and rejected the new chairman of the organization appointed by President Donald J. Trump.
Mathieu G. Zahui, the Director of Financial Management for the United States African Development Foundation (USADF), was charged and agreed to plead guilty in federal court on Friday to criminal allegations that he accepted kickbacks from a USADF contractor and attempted to hide the scheme from federal law enforcement. Notably, Zahui was the center of controversy last year when he tried to bar the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing the USADF’s financial books and rejected the new chairman of the organization appointed by President Donald J. Trump.
DOGE officials eventually entered the USADF offices and conducted a review of the foundation’s finances with the assistance of U.S. Marshals. According to the federal indictment, Zahui’s scheme involved funneling payments to the USADF’s vendors and contractors through a Kenyan company owned by a friend of 20 years.
“President Trump has made it clear that he will put an end to the fraud, waste, and abuse that was commonplace throughout these agencies,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Friday after the guilty plea. She added, “There will be serious consequences whenever corruption is unearthed, whether at the U.S. African Development Foundation or any other foundation.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) states that the Kenyan company—designated “Company-1” in the indictment—processed an estimated $617,625.49 in payments from the USADF. Consequently, Company-1 received an estimated $ 134,886.34 in “markup.” Of that, Zahui received $12,000 in cash kickbacks from his friend, who owned Company-1.
Importantly, the DOJ revealed that Zahui and his friend worked to hide the kickbacks from the Bureau of the Fiscal Service (BFS), which authorized the USADF’s payments to third parties and nongovernmental entities. Zahui faces a combined maximum of seven years in prison on the kickback charge and for lying to federal law enforcement.
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