Posted on 08/16/2005 11:32:23 AM PDT by the anti-liberal
An outside firm will join investigators in looking into a bribe scandal. A former senior official has pleaded guilty; another is accused.
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. announced new measures Monday to strengthen oversight of contracting after a senior U.N. official pleaded guilty last week to soliciting nearly $1 million in bribes for confidential bidding information.
An outside consulting firm will soon join the U.N.'s internal investigators and the U.S. attorney's office in examining how many contracts may have gone to the highest bribe, not the lowest bid, and to ensure it doesn't happen again.
The firm, which is expected to be chosen by the end of September, will carry out "a full financial and internal control review of the U.N.'s procurement system," chief U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. It will also implement reforms a consultant recommended in June after a comparison of U.N. purchasing practices with those at top U.S. companies.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan ordered the independent assessment after the arrest last week of Alexander Yakovlev, a Russian official with a long career in the U.N.'s procurement office. The U.N. investigators tipped off the U.S. attorney's office of New York's Southern District to Yakovlev's suspected corruption, and he pleaded guilty to conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering.
U.S. and U.N. investigators said they had discovered $1.3 million in a secret bank account of Yakovlev's in Antigua and had traced about $950,000 to companies that had won U.N. contracts outside the oil-for-food program for Iraq.
A separate inquiry, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, into corruption in the oil-for-food program accused Yakovlev of requesting a bribe from a Swiss firm bidding for a U.N. contract to inspect oil deliveries in Iraq.
Yakovlev was the U.N. officer in charge of awarding oil-for-food contracts to two other inspection...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
FYI..I'm pinging you to a comment on another, related thread, I think you will find of interest..regards..
Think the horse will return to the barn?
I heard someone on a TV Program refer to the UN as a Bordello with Flags.
The Best way to reform the UN is to level the building and make an Amusement Park out of it.
The idea of the UN is a good one, alas, the road to hell is paved...
The issue here is the quality of the individuals which comprise the UN. Had we an accurate means of evaluating the quality of those involved, we could either improve their quality, or replace those whose quality leaves a bit to be desired.
Or we could level the building and start over again from scratch...
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