Eric Ndungu Mwangi, Conspiracy to Steal American-Funded Aid, South Carolina 2021
CHARLESTON, S.C. - A long-term investigation concluded today with the unsealing of an indictment in the District of South Carolina charging two foreign nationals with conspiring against the United States to illegally divert U.S.-funded global health commodities from a Kenyan government-run corporation, Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA).
Eric Ndungu Mwangi, 40, a Kenyan national, and Davendra Rampersaud, 42, a Guyanese national, and their associated businesses were charged in a 2021 superseding indictment brought by a federal grand jury in the District of South Carolina.
The investigation, led by the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), focused on the approximately $650 million USAID-funded KEMSA Medical Commodities Program (MCP).
The purpose of KEMSA MCP was to establish and operate a safe, secure, reliable, and sustainable supply chain management system for HIV/AIDS commodities needed to provide care and treatment of persons with HIV/AIDS in Kenya, and to support the warehousing and distribution of select family planning, nutrition, and malaria commodities.
Beginning in 2014, Mwangi and his company, Linear Diagnostics (LD), systematically stole HIV test kits and other commodities intended for KEMSA. The stolen goods found a buyer in Rampersaud and his Guyanese company, Caribbean Medical Supplies, Inc. (CMS).
Davendra Rampersaud, 42, a Guyanese national, was arrested on January 17, 2023, and pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to stealing or converting health commodities that USAID paid for as part of a health care benefit. He was sentenced by United States District Judge Richard M. Gergel. Rampersaud received credit for time served and was additionally sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay an $84,000 fine.
Eric Ndungu Mwangi, 40, a Kenyan national, was charged in a 2021 superseding indictment brought by a federal grand jury in the District of South Carolina. He faces up to 20 years on various counts, fines, and a term of supervised release.
This case was investigated by Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Agency for International Development. All charges in the indictment are merely accusations and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Key Facts
- State: South Carolina
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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