NEWS: UN Finds Conflict of Interest in Oil-for-Food Scandal

The United Nations released an interim report by lead investigator and former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker finding a conflict of interest concerning Benon V. Sevan, who ran the oil-for-food program. The conflict centers around a Swiss company that Sevan helped win lucrative contracts with Saddam Hussein from which may have personally received $160,000 in kickbacks . The UN has not yet revealed what disciplinary actions it will take against Sevan.



This report is a good start but there are many more questions that need to be answered, including the involvement of top UN officials including Kofi Annan. On a side note, it has come to light that Volcker may have a conflict of interest himself in that he was working for an organization funded by a bank that was a player in oil-for-food.

The entire report is available in PDF format here: Interim Report.pdf.

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[edit on 3-2-2005 by Spectre]

Originally posted by djohnsto77
The UN has not yet revealed what disciplinary actions it will take against Sevan.

The dreaded UN disciplinary action - that'll teach him. What will it be a slap on the wrist, no dessert or maybe an oral admonishment? I don't think we will ever know all of the players in this little scheme. A few may receive some sort of punishment but those who profited the most will move on to their next victims - skimming from the Tsunami relief funds maybe.

B

The oil-for-food programme was set up in late 1996 to allow civilian goods into Iraq in an effort to ease the impact on ordinary Iraqis of UN sanctions dating back to 1990.

Some $69 billion in proceeds from Iraqi oil sales passed through the programme before it was shut down in 2003, a few months after the US-led invasion of Iraq.

now thats ALOT of food you get for almost 70 billion dollars!
i wonder where that "food" went anyway,
or should i say, where that "money" went!

I'm sure they'll do better than what Bush did to Rumsfeld for the Abu Ghraib scandal.

Originally posted by Souljah
now thats ALOT of food you get for almost 70 billion dollars!
i wonder where that "food" went anyway,
or should i say, where that "money" went!

In the report, they mention that $18 billion went to Kuwait for compensation claims, there was hundreds of millions per phase spent on spare parts for their petroleum industry, about $1 billion was used by the UN to administer the program and there was billions left in the bank at the end of the program.

Rumsfeld wasn't directly involved with Abu Ghraib, there's no comparison to be made. Rumsfeld did offer his resignation but it was not accepted by the President because Rumsfeld had nothing to do with the scandal. The people involved have or will be tried by the military and punished for any wrongdoing.

The men - Benon V. Sevan, a Cypriot official who ran the program until its end in 2003, and Joseph J. Stephanides, a senior official on the Security Council staff who supervised contractor selection - will continue to receive pay, said Fred Eckhard, the spokesman for Secretary General Kofi Annan. The decision was made Friday, and both men were told then, he said.

Source: New York Times

Is this a joke? Suspended with pay? Wow, and people wonder why the U.S. is unwilling to leave the investigations up to the UN and furthermore make the UN soley in charge of punishing rogue states!

Originally posted by AceOfBase
In the report, they mention that $18 billion went to Kuwait for compensation claims, there was hundreds of millions per phase spent on spare parts for their petroleum industry, about $1 billion was used by the UN to administer the program and there was billions left in the bank at the end of the program.

As such, AceOfBase, are you remotely implying that there was no Oil-For-Food scandal? That all monies are accounted for? That Annan was not aware of what was going on? Please, enlighten us.




seekerof