Posted on 06/14/2005 9:26:35 AM PDT by knighthawk
GENEVA -- A Swiss firm embroiled in the U.N. oil-for-food investigation said Tuesday that it has discovered more relevant documents and supplied them to U.S. congressional investigators.
One document concerns the contract a Geneva-based company received to supply humanitarian services under the Iraq oil-for-food program.
The company, Cotecna Inspections S.A, said the document "may result in speculation" about how it obtained the contract. But it denied any wrongdoing, insisting in a statement that it "obtained that contract fairly and on the basis of price."
The company said it has released the results of two audits to an independent U.N. inquiry headed by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. It also intends to hand them over to congressional investigators, subject to authorization by the Swiss government.
One of the audits relates to payments to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's son Kojo, who worked for Cotecna in West Africa from 1995 to December 1997.
The audit shows some payments to Kojo Annan after he stopped working for the Swiss firm were not made by Cotecna, the company said. In a report earlier this year, Volcker's Independent Inquiry Commission estimated the payments at $306,305 and said they were "possibly paid" by Cotecna.
The Swiss firm "looks forward to the IIC's correction of their error," it added.
Kojo remained a consultant for the firm until the end of 1998, when it won a $10 million-a-year contract to certify deals for humanitarian supplies imported by Iraq under the oil-for-food program.
Kojo remained on the Cotecna payroll until 2004 on a contract to prevent him from working for a competitor in West Africa. Volcker's inquiry has accused Cotecna and Kojo Annan of trying to conceal their relationship after the firm was awarded the contract.
It also said Kofi Annan failed to properly investigate possible conflicts of interest surrounding the awarding of the contract. The Volcker inquiry criticized the secretary-general for refusing to push top advisers further after they conducted a 24-hour investigation related to his son and found nothing wrong.
Ping
Kofi, like his son, is neck deep in the graft and corruption on the oil for food. Now to access all those offshore accounts that Kofi and Son maintains.
..."Now to access all those offshore accounts that Kofi and Son maintains"....
Makes it very handy for the Swiss company to hand Kofi's cash to Kojo, so he can walk down the street to deposit it in Dad's secret account!!
Thanks for the ping.
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