UN purges Iraq documents with $15-bn in question

Mineweb ^ | April 28, 2003 | Tim Wood

[Cicero]

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>UN purges Iraq documents with $15-bn in question

By: Tim Wood

Posted: 2003/04/28 Mon 11:00 EDT  | © Mineweb 1997-2003

NEW YORK -- Increasing attention has been focused on the United Nations administered oil-for-food programme that was intended to provide the people of Iraq with medicine and food, but deprive its power elite of any spoils until it complied with disarmament requirements. The reverse has occurred.

Several writers, notably Claudia Rosett and William Safire in the NY Times, have already documented the lack of transparency, secret audits and penchant for non-humanitarian spending that characterizes the programme. Now, as scrutiny mounts, every effort is being made to ensure the truth is never revealed.

Well placed sources tell Mineweb that sensitive records and correspondence related to the oil-for-food programme have been purged from the computer system at UN headquarters in New York. For detail of the sums involved, see the table at the end of this article.

Mineweb’s sources dismiss assurances by oil-for-food programme director, Benon Sevan, that current audits are sufficient. “These audits are sometimes used to cover-up real problems in programmes such as the UN’s Chief Resident Auditor in the Congo who was removed and his audit blocked when it alleged possible fraud involving communications equipment procured for that mission,” the source said.

The shenanigans in the Congo, instead of being dealt with in the customary manner of an audit, were turned around so that the auditor was threatened with a recall over his reports exposing the fraudulent nature of the Peace Keeping Mission’s air services contract in the Congo. This issue only came to light when the ACABQ jumped into the fray and issued its report A/56/845 to the General Assembly. Our source adds: “The UN’s legislative bodies would never have come to know about the apparent fraud and Benon Sevan hints at this modus operandi when he notes that audit reports are secret to members of the Security Council.”

Although documents are being purged in the case of Iraq, it is still possible to get a reliable guesstimate on how much has been raised under the UN programme to date and it is mind-boggling.

Incredibly, the programme pumped a lot more oil than it needed in order to cover its admitted “humanitarian” disbursements. Since 1996, the UN has seen fit to expend $27 billion on “relief” in Iraq (untold amounts went directly to Saddam Hussein and his inner circle), while it raised at least $70 billion through oil sales between 1998 and 2003.

The UN itself pocketed up to $1.6 billion thanks to the 2.2% in commission it claimed from each barrel of oil sold.

Given the mismatch between disbursements and revenues, the UN was evidently unable to resist the temptation to treat Iraq as a cash dispensing machine.

Consequently, as much as $15 billion in unspent programme proceeds may be sloshing about – provided it has not already been pilfered. As it is, Kurdish recipients of UN aid say that up to half of what was earmarked for them has been embezzled.

There is every reason to fear that the slush fund money will be stolen along with any interest it has earned. The UN has incredibly lax internal and external auditing procedures. Its Board of External Auditors must know about potential fraud in the Congo but has not taken the steps to formally report it to the General Assembly. Worse still, its Office of Internal Oversight Services appears to play the lead role in assuring that damaging audit reports do not reach the General Assembly. Finally, requests to the Secretary-General to have these improper practices investigated have apparently gone unheeded.

The UN has such a pristine record that you would be hard pressed to find more than a handful of punishments for fraud – despite a deal flow worth tens of billions a year. This is unprecedented in the commercial world, impossible in the bureaucratic one; especially when there is no audit department to speak of.

Can there be any doubt that the best energy business in the world over the past five years is a tax-payer funded one resident on the East side of Manhattan?

[Lady Heron]

Hard drives are still accessible. SOmeone should be seizing those hard drives.

Who?? Unless we storm the U.N. and take it over there is nobody with power to make the U.N. come clean. The U.N. is basicaly a world mafia there is no policing authority to stop them.

[HighRoadToChina]

BUMP!!!!

[Centurion2000]

Some enterprising Freeper that reads/writes Arabic should translate this and start sending it around to Iraqi exile groups for posting on EVERY bank in Iraq.

If the Iraqi people do not start screaming for their money it will VANISH.

[Lockbox]

Is anyone else concerned with line # 6 – Less estimated capex and costs for UN oil programme –29,348 USD MM

That’s over 29 billion dollars for ‘ESTIAMTED’ capex (this means Capital Expenditure) and costs for UN oil programme.

Now what are the capex and costs?

Captial Expenditures for what? Costs for what?

People this is one-third of the 73 billion dollars listed as revenue. I suggest this is the area the UN hide the stealing! Notice the word ‘ESTIAMTED’

And what type of capital expenditures are necessary to provide food for the people of Iraq?

Some one needs to explain.

[FairOpinion]

Send a copy to O'Reilly too. He just did an interview with the UN director, who admistered it, Benon Sevan, who assured Bill that everything was fine, just fine.

I sent him a copy, but one e-mail is easily overlooked, I think a few more people should send it to him, let him interview this guy, who seem to have some facts and figures and real info.

oreilly@foxnews.com

[Madcelt]

just a friendly ping! The UN! Marvelous organization ain't it.

[El Sordo]

The $ amounts boggle my mind.

And here I have to cut coupons to get by....

[Cicero]

That link seems to be very slow. It wouldn't open for me. I don't know why the Kofi Annandersen thread I posted here a couple of weeks ago seems to have been removed from FR. Heavens knows it had plenty of replies on it, and the subject is vital.

[pointsal]

what was bill & hillery's cut on the deal?

[azGOPgal]

Thanks, sis. There's some good info here I can use. I appreciate it.

[lorrainer]

Try this link HERE.

I saved this one to my profile, just in case! THIS should be sent to Bill O' so he does a better job than the lukewarm "try" he had Monday night.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Nice gig.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Outrageous atrocity bump.

[El Sordo]

Outrageous atrocity is right.

I cannot even begin to wrap my brain around the amount of money involved.

[goody2shooz]

Ping for later!