U.S. aid official who refused to give government access to his agency’s books may have steered contracts to a friend who sent him secret payments

Mathieu Zahui , chief financial officer of the African Development Foundation , steered illicit contracts to a friend who sent him secret payments, according to a law enforcement affidavit obtained by The Daily Wire .

Zahui refused to grant DOGE access to his agency's books and told the White House that the agency would not acknowledge President Donald Trump ’s appointee as chairman of the board.

The Department of Government Efficiency ( DOGE ) physically took over the building with U.S. Marshals in March .

This February , President Trump fired the African Development Foundation’s board members, and its CEO, Travis Adkins , resigned.

A three -person committee, including Zahui , took over the duties of CEO.

On February 21 , DOGE “demanded immediate access to USADF systems including financial records and payment and human resources systems,” but Zahui stalled them.

The White House emailed Zahui that Pete Marocco , the Trump operative tasked with dismantling USAID , had become acting chairman of the foundation.

Zahui told the White House that agency staff would not honor the appointment because he had not been confirmed by the Senate .

Sen. Risch warned USAID ’s inspector general in the 2023 letter that if it didn’t urgently reform the African Development Foundation , Americans might lose trust in USAID and foreign funding as a whole.

According to its 2022-2023 financial statement, the agency had $9.7 million “held outside treasury” Mateo Dunne said he planned to help Congress locate the money.