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Investigator: U.N. scandal exposes corruption
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-28 20:02
Fraud in the U.N. oil-for-food scheme for Iraq reached from French
politicians to a former Vatican aide and name-brand companies, sending a
sobering message about the state of global business, the chief investigator said
after publishing his conclusions on what went awry.
"There's a lot of corruption in the world," Paul Volcker told The Associated
Press on Thursday, when he released his scathing final report on the 18-month
investigation.
The former Federal Reserve chairman's team found that more than 2,200
companies and individuals, or about half of all those involved in the
humanitarian program, paid kickbacks and illegal surcharges to win lucrative
contracts while Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein pocketed $1.8 billion — at the
expense of his people who were suffering under U.N. sanctions.
But the report stressed that Saddam was able to keep filling his coffers
primarily because of shoddy U.N. management and failures by the world's most
powerful nations, which allowed the racket to go on for years.
"What I do want to emphasize is that the corruption of the program by Saddam
... could not have been nearly so pervasive had there been more disciplined
management by the U.N. and its agencies," said Volcker.
The report is almost certain to be followed by action on
two fronts: national investigations and possible prosecutions of those named in
the report and fresh efforts to reform the United Nations. Interim reports in
Volcker's investigation have already led to criminal inquiries and indictments
in the United States, Switzerland and France, and Volcker said his team would
cooperate with legal actions in following up on his findings.
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