Former USAID IT Employee Pleads Guilty to $176,000 CARES Act Fraud

Baltimore, Maryland — Simeon Bakare, a former U.S. Agency for International Development employee who worked on information-technology matters, pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court here to wire-fraud charges for a CARES Act scheme that netted him more than $176,000.

Bakare, 55, of Waldorf, Maryland, admitted to the fraud as part of the Department of Justice’s ongoing enforcement effort targeting pandemic-relief programs. The plea covers a single count of wire fraud tied to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act passed by Congress in March 2020.

That legislation provided hundreds of billions of dollars in direct payments, expanded unemployment benefits, and forgivable loans to businesses and individuals affected by the pandemic shutdowns.

The operational change is straightforward: Bakare now faces sentencing under federal guidelines that apply to wire-fraud convictions involving more than $150,000. The plea agreement replaces a not-guilty posture with an admission that triggers mandatory restitution and potential prison time. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.

Downstream consequences include required repayment of the $176,000 plus interest and forfeiture of any assets traceable to the fraud. The conviction also bars Bakare from future federal employment and may trigger additional administrative sanctions at USAID, which must now review internal controls that allowed an IT staffer to exploit CARES Act systems.

The case adds to the volume of matters the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland must process for restitution and sentencing in its pandemic-fraud docket.

This is the latest guilty plea secured by the Justice Department in its multi-year effort to recover CARES Act funds obtained through false claims. Federal prosecutors have pursued similar cases against individuals who misused unemployment insurance, Paycheck Protection Program loans, and Economic Injury Disaster Grant programs authorized under the 2020 law.