NGO logistics officer jailed for bribery of procurement officials

A former logistical officer at an international development charity has been jailed for over three and-a-half years in the United States for bribery of NGO procurement officials in order to receive sensitive procurement information to facilitate bid-rigging in tenders.

Whilst working for GOAL, an international humanitarian response agency established in Ireland over 40 years ago, Ernest Halilov, 43, coordinated a bid-rigging scheme for NGO contracts which were funded, in part, by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) between 2011 and 2016.

These NGO contracts were for the procurement of food and supplies that would ultimately be provided to those affected by various humanitarian crises, including refugees displaced by the conflict in Syria.

According to information provided by the US Department of Justice, Halilov bribed two NGO officers in order to obtain confidential procurement information, such as bid evaluation information, specifications and internal vendor rankings.

In turn, Halilov would provide this information to his preferred companies in exchange for kickbacks, including plane tickets and a car, ensuring that these companies had an advantage over other bidders, thus increasing their ability to win GOALS’ humanitarian response contracts.

During his trial, he also admitted that he instructed a witness to lie to law enforcement agents and destroyed emails related to the investigation.

In an impressive feat of international cooperation, Halilov, a Turkmen national, was extradited from the Ukraine and prosecuted in US Federal Court in the District of Columbia due to the fraudulent losses incurred by USAID, an agency of the US federal government.

Photo by Guido Coppa on Unsplash