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Ex-head of oil-for-food program accused of kickback

Posted on: Monday, 8 August 2005, 11:44 CDT

By Evelyn Leopold and Irwin Arieff

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The former head of the U.N. oil-for-food program, Benon Sevan, was accused on Monday of getting nearly $150,000 in kickbacks funneled to him by a relative of former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

The U.N.-established Independent Inquiry Committee, headed by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, recommended U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan waive immunity for "purposes of a criminal investigation" of Sevan. But Sevan, who has denied any wrongdoing, resigned from the United Nations on Sunday, which automatically lifts his immunity.

In its third interim report, the panel also accused a U.N. purchasing officer, Alexander Yakovlev, of soliciting a bribe from a contractor that did business with the now-defunct $67 billion U.N. humanitarian program for Iraq.

According to the inquiry, Sevan worked with a cousin of Boutros-Ghali, Egyptian Fakhry Abdelnour, who owned a small trading firm, called African Middle East Petroleum (AMEP). This firm transferred $580,000 to the account of Fred Nadler, the brother of Boutros-Ghali's wife Leia.

Of this amount, Nadler then deposited in cash $147,184 to the New York bank accounts of Sevan and his wife.

"Mr Sevan corruptly and in concert with (Mr) Nadler and (Mr) Abdelnour derived personal pecuniary benefit through the program through cash receipts from the sale of oil allocated by Iraq to Mr Sevan and bought by African Middle East Petroleum Co.," the report said.

"The participants had knowledge that some of the oil was purchased by paying an illegal surcharge to Iraq in violation of United Nations sanctions and rules of the program. "

Source: REUTERS

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