WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — Newly unsealed court documents reveal years of bank fraud conspiracies and bribery schemes involving D.C. government officials and employees.
The unsealed documents include a plea agreement signed in early August by Allieu Badara Kamara, Jr., who was the CEO and Executive Director of Life Deeds, an area nonprofit that serves at-risk youth and adults. Some time after White was arrested, Kamara stepped down from his role – a decision that according to the organization, “was made mutually in the best interests of both parties.”
As revealed in the court documents, Kamara pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud and Bribery, stemming from schemes that have gone on for at least four years in total.
The Bank Fraud Conspiracy
According to his plea, between April 2020 through at least August 2022, Kamara and three co-conspirators submitted applications for pandemic-era Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans with false and fraudulent information.
They used the money, in part, for their own benefit and enjoyment.
At Kamara’s direction, one of the conspirators prepared and submitted PPP loan applications with false statements and fabricated supported documents for nine businesses controlled by third parties, and three businesses under Kamara’s control, one of which was Life Deeds.
The other two businesses were District Services Management LLC (DSM) and Mission Ready, Inc.
In total, Kamara and the conspirator submitted at least 23 false and fraudulent PPP loan applications, resulting in over $3.7 million in unlawful proceeds. Of that amount, at least $621,700 was transferred to Kamara for his personal benefit.
The Bribery Scheme
Beginning as early as January 2019, and continuing through December 2023, D.C. government employees and officials provided Kamara with confidential information and directed government contracts and grants to businesses under his control, including Life Deeds and DSM.
In exchange, the officials received a percentage of the contracts he obtained.
Kamara’s plea agreement goes into detail regarding his deal with “co-conspirator 2,” a woman employed by the D.C. government who served as a Contract Specialist with the District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA).
Beginning in January 2019, through at least Dec. 6, 2023, Kamara paid the woman for confidential information about CFSA contracts and grants – a “violation of her lawful and official duties.”
As detailed in the plea agreement, the confidential information included the names of other businesses submitting bids for contrast and the total amount of comparator bids.
This information helped ensure Kamara’s businesses could bid an amount that would increase their chances of being awarded a government contract.
She also advised him to adjust his bid on specific contracts when she knew the applicant with the lowest bid would receive the contract.
To ensure Kamara and his businesses received the contracts and grants, the conspirator would also review his application materials and advise him to change aspects of his proposals to meet Request for Applications requirements.
She would also “reallocate funds in his proposed budget to reflect a larger amount being used for the community in order to increase the applications appeal to reviewers.”
In exchange for her help, Kamara paid her a percentage of the contract and grant funds received by Life Deeds and DSM.
In all, she received at least $233,520 in bribes.
Kevin Donahue, City Administrator for DC Government, issued the following statement:
“We are reviewing the documents unsealed earlier today by the U.S. District Court and are continuing our internal review of contracts and grants awarded to Life Deeds and its affiliates.”
DC News Now reached out to Kamara’s attorneys for a statement, who did not want to comment.
Connection to Trayon White
Although Kamara and Life Deeds are not named in the indictment against councilmember Trayon White, a DC News Now source named the company and its leader as the informant in the case. Details including financial payments and timelines also align directly with Kamara and Life Deeds.
White was arrested in August and charged with one count of federal bribery.
He’s accused of agreeing to accept $156,000 in bribes in exchange for securing city contracts for violence interruption programs. In court documents, White is caught on camera taking envelopes filled with tens of thousands of dollars in cash from a confidential source.
According to the indictment against White, Confidential Human Source 1 (CHS), “On August 9, 2024, CHS 1 entered into a plea agreement with the United States whereby he agreed to plead guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349 and Bribery, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 201, and is scheduled to execute that agreement before the Court on August 16, 2024.”
Court records show Kamara’s case was entered into the federal system on Aug. 9 and his plea agreement was filed on Aug. 16 in which pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud and Bribery.
A focus in White’s bribery case is on “Company 1.”
The indictment against White describes “Company 1” as “a community-based initiative to serve high-risk youths and adults throughout D.C. and Maryland.” On its website, Life Deeds describes itself “as a community-based initiative that serves high-risk youth and adults throughout the District and Maryland.”
Court documents also allege White accepted a bribe from the CHS to help resolve a dispute regarding falsifying documents related to homeless services.
In 2018, a press release from the Mayor’s Office announced Life Deeds was contracted to run the Horizon, a new homeless shelter in Ward 7. Reporting by the Washington Post later showed that Life Deeds was terminated from its contract for falsifying background checks for its work at the Horizon.
City records show that Life Deeds was awarded tens of thousands of dollars in city contracts from the Department of Youth and Rehabilitative Services, one of two city agencies at the center of White’s bribery case.
DC News Now reached out to Life Deeds at the time of White’s arrest. However, the phone line for the company was out of service. Emails sent for comment were not returned.
The United States Attorney’s Office also declined to confirm or deny if Kamara is the confidential source.
