US-based aid group says around $900,000 stolen by employees in Congo

An American-based aid group said that approximately $900,000 was stolen from its Congo programs by members of the organization who conspired with outsiders.

GiveDirectly said that it learned that people on its Congo team worked with people outside the organization to defraud the cash transfer program, diverting aid from more than 1,700 impoverished families over six months, starting in August 2022.

This fraud was only possible because of a specific change we made in our payment process in order to work in this remote, insecure region of (Congo), according to the statement from Monday. We feel deep regret for not catching this sooner and take seriously the vulnerabilities it exposed, it said.

GiveDirectly said that an investigation is ongoing and that it was able to recover a very small portion of the lost funds, but the majority of the $900,000 will likely be uncoverable. But the group is working to ensure that families impacted by the fraud get their money.

Roughly 1% of money ...