USAID Official Charged With COVID Bailout Fraud Using Fake Company

A USAID employee has been charged with fraudulently creating a fake company to secure COVID-19 benefits for himself, federal prosecutors said Friday. Yusuf Akoll, who was in charge of managing contracts for the agency, made false statements to obtain Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. “Yusuf Akoll worked as a Senior Procurement Contract Specialist at the U.S. Agency for International Development,” according to a previously unreported court document. “From at least in or around March 2021, and continuing through at least in or around August 2021, Akoll [made] materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements…that resulted in Akoll receiving two [Paycheck Protection...