Federal Government Employee Arrested for Conspiracy to Defraud the District of Columbia to Benefit His Private Company

            WASHINGTON – A criminal complaint was unsealed today in the District of Columbia charging Ifediora Oli with conspiring with others to defraud the District of money, property, and the honest services of one of its employees. The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Scott of the Washington Field Office, Acting Inspector General Kevin B. Muhlendorf of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Office of Inspector General, and Daniel W. Lucas, Inspector General for the District of Columbia.         

            Ifediora Oli, 41, was arrested this morning at his home in Silver Spring, MD. According to court documents, in addition to maintaining employment with the federal government, Oli is the Principal for Highbury Global Group, Inc. Oli has a long-term relationship with a person identified as Co-conspirator No. 1., who works at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Beginning in 2018, Co-conspirator No. 1 used his position at WMATA to steer business opportunities to Oli and Highbury. Another person, referred to in the affidavit as Co-conspirator No. 2, worked at WMATA from 2016 to January 2019, as a contract administrator. While they both worked at WMATA, Co-conspirator No. 1 introduced Co-conspirator No. 2 to Oli. Co-conspirator 2 later moved to the District’s Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP). At OCP, Co-conspirator 2 helped manage District government contracting activities such as advertising, negotiation, price analysis, bid selection, and contract implementation. 

            In January 2021, OCP began the process of helping the District of Columbia’s Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS) hire a vendor to provide DFS with COVID-19 testing supplies. On January 14, 2021, Co-conspirator No. 2 wrote to potential vendors, including Oli, and invited them to bid on the contract, which was ultimately awarded to Oli and Highbury. 

            The COVID-19 testing supplies contract with Highbury on behalf of DFS was fully executed on February 4, 2021. The total contract amount was $659,099.22. The District of Columbia government ultimately paid Highbury over $630,000 on the COVID-19 testing supplies contract. As the contract was being implemented and ultimately closed out, Oli wired over $140,000 to Co-conspirator No. 1’s personal bank account. Of those amounts, Co-conspirator No. 1 kicked back $15,000 to Co-conspirator 2 in two cash installments, at Oli’s direction.

            The investigation into this matter was conducted by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, with the WMATA Office of the Inspector General and District of Columbia Office of the Inspector General.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Visser of the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

            A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.