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[SU] PSF FOR LAW
TO FOREIGN, LEGAL AFFAIRS, AND NATIONAL EDITORS:
USAID contractor ex-employee arrested on embezzlement charges
For more information about USAID's programs and interview requests, please contact: Senior Development, Outreach and Communications Officer Stefan Korshak (0702-626255) KabulAIDdoc@usaid.gov , http://afghanistan.usaid.gov
KABUL, Afghanistan, April 14, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Afghan
police working with American agents arrested an Afghan man on charges
of stealing more than a half million dollars from an agricultural
development fund supported by the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID). The money was insured, and there was no actual
loss of U.S. taxpayer funds.
Afghan National Police made the arrest on April 2 in the northern city
Mazar-e-Sharif, along with agents from the USAID Office of Inspector
General (OIG). The arrest followed a long-running joint investigation
by Afghan law enforcement agencies, USAID OIG and the Special
Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
"This arrest demonstrates effective partnership between U.S. and
Afghan authorities can help ensure those who seek to divert assistance
from the Afghan people are held to account," USAID Acting Inspector
General Michael Carroll said.
The suspect in custody is Abdul Khalil Qadery, a former employee of
Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), an international company based in
Bethesda, Maryland. DAI is implementing the USAID Agricultural Credit
Enhancement project and has fully cooperated with the investigation.
Qadery allegedly embezzled funds sent to the USAID-supported
Agricultural Development Fund (ADF), by making a wire transfer
equivalent to $539,000 to an Afghanistan International Bank account
set up under a fictitious name. He is in police detention in Kabul and
faces a maximum sentence of three years' imprisonment and fines.
Qadery's alleged embezzlement would also violate U.S. law, and subject
him to potential prosecution by law enforcement authorities in the
United States.
USAID established the $100 million ADF program in 2010 to help
Afghanistan's Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL)
support small farmers with loans or grants. These farmers repay the
loans after harvest.
The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International
Development, have provided economic and humanitarian assistance
worldwide for more than 50 years.
SOURCE USAID/OIG
-0- 04/14/2014
/Web Site: http://oig.usaid.gov/
CO: USAID/OIG
ST: Afghanistan
SU: PSF FOR LAW
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0000 04/14/2014 15:09:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
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