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UN linked to Iraqi oil-for-food agent
The United Nations suffered a further blow on Thursday when US authorities revealed that at least one high-ranking official in the organisation might have been bribed in connection with the Iraq oil-for-food programme by a South Korean lobbyist for the Baghdad government.The disclosure, in a complaint by the US attorney for the southern district of New York, came as criminal charges were also brought against three businessmen linked to Bayoil, a Texan oil company said to have played a "pivotal" role in subverting the humanitarian relief scheme. The indictments, which target allegedly central figures in the scandal, mark a significant step forward by investigating authorities. They follow two damaging reports carried out by a separate UN-appointed independent inquiry led Paul Volcker which found severe flaws in the oversight of the programme. According to David Kelley, the attorney, Park Tongsun, a Korean working on behalf of Saddam Hussein's regime, conspired to influence the design of the multi-billion dollar oil-for-food programme in the 1990s. The charges allege that Mr Park met senior UN officials in New York and Geneva, and received at least $2m for his services from the Iraqi government, delivered in cash in diplomatic pouches. "It was allegedly understood . . . that some of the money would be used by Park to 'take care' of [one high-ranking] UN official," the charges say. Having never registered in the US as an agent of the Iraqi government, as required by American law, Mr Park, if found guilty, faces a maximum five years in prison, plus a fine. Mr Kelley said on Thursday that Mr Park was believed to be in South Korea. According to the charges, in 1992 Mr Park started working with an unnamed, co-operative witness, believed to be Samir Vincent, the first American to be charged in connection with the investigations. In February 1993 Mr Park arranged a meeting at the Manhattan home of the high-ranking UN official. In March he met the official again in Manhattan, and in June in Geneva. In late 1995, Mr Park told the witness he needed $10m to "take care" of "his expenses and his people". In January 1996 he asked for the money to be wired to a bank account in London. The following month Iraq also agreed to pay money to a bank account in the Channel Islands. Later, when Iraq threatened to cut off funds, Mr Park arranged a meeting in a Manhattan restaurant attended by a second high-ranking UN official. After that official left, Mr Park allegedly told the witness he had used a $5m guarantee to "fund business dealings" with the second official. The indictment also alleges that Mr Park invested $1m in a Canadian company set up by the son of the second high-ranking UN official, but "the money was lost because this Canadian company failed soon after". Separately, David Chalmers, head of Bayoil, a Texas oil company, and two associates were charged with taking part in a scheme to pay "millions of dollars in secret kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime". Mr Kelley said Mr Chalmers, John Irving, a London-based oil trader, and Ludmil Dionissiev, a Bulgarian resident in the US, "conspired to deflate the official selling price of Iraqi oil" by giving UN overseers "fraudulent information". Lawyers for Mr Chalmers and Mr Dionissiev said their clients would plead not guilty. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-04-15 |
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