This is a microcosm of one of the biggest scams in American history — a scheme that could be costing taxpayers up to $100 billion every year. It’s a system long described as an open secret in Washington — one that dwarfs the USAID fraud scandals in both scale and scope. At its center lies a government program created to empower minority-owned small businesses. But behind the façade, our investigation uncovers a network of “8(a) pass-through” schemes — shell companies exploiting those very progra