The Oil-for-Food Program ( OIP ), established by the United Nations in 1995 (under United Nations Security Council Resolution 986) was established to allow Iraq to sell oil the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqis without letting Iraq improve its military capabilities.
The program was introduced by the administration of US President Bill Clinton in 1995, in response to the argument that ordinary Iraqi citizens are heavily influenced by international economic sanctions aimed at the demilitarization of Saddam Hussein, which was imposed after the first Gulf War. The sanctions were suspended on 21 November 2003 following the US invasion of Iraq, and humanitarian functions were submitted to the Coalition Provisional Authority.
The program was de jure terminated in 2003 and de facto ended in 2010. Despite effective sanctions, there is a corruption revelation involving funds.
Video Oil-for-Food Programme
Background and design
The Food for Food Program was instituted to alleviate the suffering of extended civilians as a result of the imposition of comprehensive UN sanctions against Iraq after the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. Security Council Resolution 706 August 15, 1991 was introduced to allow the sale of Iraqi oil to be exchanged for food.
Security Council Resolution 712 on September 19, 1991 confirmed that Iraq could sell up to US $ 1.6 billion in oil to fund the Oil for Food Program. After the initial rejection, Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in May 1996 for the arrangements to be taken to implement the resolution.
The Oil for Food program began in December 1996, and the first shipment of food arrived in March 1997. Sixty percent of Iraq's twenty-six million fully depend on the allotment of the oil-for-food plan.
This program uses escrow system. Oil exported from Iraq is paid by the recipient to an escrow account held until 2001 by BNP Paribas bank, not to the Iraqi government. The money was then distributed to pay war reparations to Kuwait, the ongoing coalition and UN operations in Iraq. The rest, most of the revenue, is available to the Iraqi government to buy regulated goods.
The Iraqi government is allowed to buy only goods that are not embargoed under economic sanctions. Certain items, such as raw food, are accelerated for immediate delivery, but the demand for most items, including simple things like pencils and folic acid, is reviewed in a process that usually takes six months before delivery is authorized. Items considered to have potential applications in the development of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons systems are not available to the regime, regardless of the stated purpose.
Maps Oil-for-Food Programme
Financial statistics
More than 53 billion dollars of Iraqi oil are sold on the world market. About US $ 46 billion of this is intended to provide for the humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people such as food and medicine, given the context of international economic sanctions. Much of it was spent on Bay War reparations paid through compensation funds (25% starting December 2000). UN administration and operational costs for the program are US $ 1.2 billion; the cost of weapons inspection programs is also paid from these funds. Internal audit has not been published yet.
End of program
Shortly before the United States and British forces invaded Iraq, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan suspended the program and evacuated more than 300 workers monitoring supply distribution.
On March 28, 2003, Secretary-General Annan, the United States and Britain asked the Security Council to ensure that nearly US $ 10 billion of goods that Iraq has ordered and which have been approved - including US $ 2.4 billion for food - can enter the country. so conditions permit. The resolution discussed made it clear that the primary responsibility for overcoming the humanitarian consequences of the war would be to fall into the United States and Britain if they took over the country. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 this is the responsibility of the occupying power.
On 22 May 2003, UN Security Council Resolution 1483 authorized the Coalition Provisional Authority to use Iraqi oil revenues. The remaining program funds, $ 10 billion, were transferred during the 6-month closing period to the Development Fund for Iraq under the control of the Coalition Liability Authority; this represents 14% of total program revenue over 5 years.
The program was officially discontinued on 21 November 2003 and its main function was submitted to the Coalition Provisional Authority.
Abuse
The program also has widespread corruption and misuse. Along the way, the program was hit by allegations that some of its benefits were illegally transferred to the Iraqi government and to UN officials. This charge was made in many countries, including the US and Norway.
According to information from Aqila al-Hashimi, who is a senior bureaucrat with the Oil for Food Program in Iraq, out of a total of 60 billion dollars, "about 65% is actually applied for aid". More than 193 so-called electrical consultants each receive $ 15,000 per month while electricity only works several hours each time.
Benon Sevan of Cyprus, who led the program, defended it, claiming that it only has a 2.2% administrative fee and it is subject to more than 100 internal and external audits. He blamed the Security Council restrictions for making the situation difficult and said that 90% of Iraq's population depends on the program for its monthly food basket. Sevan tries to review and investigate the program. He instructed his staff to enforce a policy that complaints about illegal payments should be formally filed into the reporting country, leaving them open and allowing Iraq to ban the exposure of the problem. In 2000, Dileep Nair, the UN's corruption superintendent, wanted to determine the vulnerability of the program. Sevan and UN Under Secretary General Louise Frechette rejected such an investigation, claiming that it would be too expensive to be valuable. De Chef UN Cabinet Iqbal Riza ordered the lifting of documents for years in his office regarding the program. He said that they came from work files containing copies of documents received by his office, and cleared for lack of space, as well as the original held elsewhere.
In response to these criticisms, and the evidence obtained after the 2003 Iraq invasion, the UN Secretary-General's allegations were made that such small profits were used to buy influence at the UN and with Kofi Annan himself.
According to an interim report released on Feb. 3, 2005 by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker (see # Investigations below), much of the food aid provided under the program is "unfit for human consumption". The report concludes that Sevan has received nearly $ 150,000 bribes during the program, and in 2005 he was suspended from his post at the UN as a result of fraudulent investigations.
Peter van Walsum, the Dutch ambassador now retired to the United Nations and chairman of the Iraqi Sanctions Committee from 1999 to 2000, speculated in a recent book that Iraq deliberately divides the Security Council by awarding contracts to France, Russia and China. but not to England and the United States. He also stated that he encountered a number of cases where he felt the lack of Iraqi cooperation was designed to exacerbate the suffering of his own people. He also said that in his opinion, sanctions are not an effective deterrent.
Until 2001, the money for the Oil for Food Program passed BNP Paribas, its main private shareholder was Nadhmi Auchi who was born in Iraq, a man estimated to be worth about $ 1 billion according to Forbes estimates, 13 in the UK by The Guardian . Auchi received a 15-month probation sentence for his involvement in the Elf scandal, which the British newspaper called "Europe's largest fraud investigation since the Second World War", said "Elf became a private bank for executives who spend £ 200m on political aid, , jewelry, art, villas and apartments ". Elf, an oil company, joined TotalFina into Total S.A. in 2003. list
al mada
One of the earliest allegations of misconduct in the program appeared on January 25, 2004, when al Mada , the daily newspaper in Iraq, published a list of individuals and organizations alleged to have received contracts for oil sales through the UN. Oil for Food Program. The list comes from more than 15,000 documents reportedly found in Iraq's state-owned Iraqi oil company, the Iraqi National Oil Company, which has close ties with the Iraqi Petroleum Ministry.
Named on the list of beneficiaries are George Galloway, then UK parliamentarian, and charity, Mariam's Request; former French Minister of the Interior Charles Pasqua; and Shaker al-Kaffaji, an Iraqi-American businessman. Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, was removed from office for his role in the scandal. Many prominent Russian companies and individuals are also on the list of al Mada . Even the Russian Orthodox Church should be involved in the illegal oil trade. The former assistant secretary of state of the Vatican, Reverend Jean-Marie Benjamin, is said to have received the right to sell 4.5 million barrels (720,000 m 3 ). George Galloway later won two defamation acts against Christian Science Monitor and Daily Telegraph, which have reported the allegations.
President of Oilexco Ltd, Arthur Millholland, whose name also appears on the list of al Mada , denies any wrongdoing but insists that the illegal surcharge has been paid to the Iraqi government by the contractor. However, the list of al Mada does not address bribes paid to Iraq - it addresses bribes paid to individuals to support Iraq. Few deny that in Iraq, as in many third world countries, bribes and bribes are regularly paid to leaders for contracts, but some suggest that bribes are not likely to occur in those countries when a UN-run program is involved.
Operation scheme
The scheme allegedly works in this way: individuals and organizations sympathetic to the Iraqi regime, or those who easily bribe, are offered oil contracts through the Oil for Food Program. This contract for Iraqi oil can then be sold on the open world market and the seller is allowed to keep the transaction fee, which is said to be between $ 0.15 and $ 0.50/barrel (0.94 and 3.14 $/mÃ,³) of oil sold. The seller then returns most of the commission to the Iraqi government.
Contracts to sell Iraqi humanitarian goods through the Oil-for-Food Program are awarded to companies and individuals based on their willingness to kick back a certain percentage of the contract's profits to the Iraqi regime. Companies selling commodities through the Oil-for-Food Program are over 10% usable, with the share of excessive amounts being transferred to private bank accounts for Saddam Hussein and other regime officials and other parts kept by suppliers.
The UN's own involvement in the scandal began in February 2004 after the name Benon Sevan, executive director of the Oil for Food Program, appeared in the Iraqi Petroleum Ministry document. Sevan received a voucher of at least 11,000,000 barrels (1,700,000 mÃ,³) of oil, valued at about $ 3.5 million in profit. Sevan denied the allegations.
BNP Paribas
The only bank that handles fund transfers for the Food for Food Program is the Banque Nationale de Paris-Paribas branch in New York, or BNP Paribas. The French bank is the sole bank that manages the $ 64 billion UN program. An investigation by the US International Relations Committee found that BNP Paribas made payments for goods without proof of delivery and payment allowed to third parties not identified as authorized recipients. Researchers estimate that the bank received more than $ 700 million in fees under the UN program, which began in 1996 and ended after the overthrow of Saddam in March 2003.
Duelfer Report
The Iraq Survey Group, which was tasked with finding evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, found that OFF saved the Iraqi economy from decline after imposition of sanctions. Furthermore, the Iraqi regime found that they could be corrupt to get a hard currency that could be used to manipulate the Iraqi Sanctions Committee and undermine sanctions and gain more weapons.
The final official version of the report of the Iraq Survey Group, known as the Duelfer Report, only mentions France, Russia, and China (countries that are also very anti-war) as offenders who pay bribes. According to the report, three top oil recipients include Russia (30%), France (15%) and China (10%), all of whom are members of the UN Security Council. The US receives 2-3% of the oil. US recipients include Exxon Mobil Corp., ChevronTexaco Corp. and El Paso Corp. The US company's list was initially censored by CIA lawyers, citing privacy issues, but later leaked.
On June 5, 2007, the German chapter of the anti-corruption organization Transparency International (TI) filed a complaint with the German Federal Ministry for Economic and Energy Affairs (BMWi) against 57 German companies for allegedly paying $ 11.9 million in bribes at the UN 'Oil for Food Program at Iraq.
Oil coupon as a bribe
The US-funded satellite network Al Hurra broadcasts a story on January 6, 2005 detailing allegations that Saddam's regime has bribed news reporters with oil coupons. The named reporters include Ahmed Mansour from Al Jazeera and Hamida Na'na, a French-based writer known for his pro-Saddam position. Two types of oil coupons are used: silver coupons with rights holders of nine million barrels of oil, and gold coupons worth more. Hamida Naanaa is said to have received a gold coupon. Ingersoll-Rand pays $ 2.5 million for bribes
In October 2007, the SEC brought the case against Ingersoll-Rand accusing a distraction by three different subsidiaries to Iraqi Government officials. The Ingersoll-Rand subsidiary in Germany, ABG, a subsidiary of I-R Italiana and Irish subsidiary Thermo King pay "after-sales service fees" (ASSFs), although no bona fide service is made. Ingersoll-Rand, without acknowledging or denying allegations in the commission's complaint, approved the final decision that permanently ordered it from future violations of Section 13 (b) (2) (A) and 13 (b) (2) (B) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, ordered him to spend $ 1,710,034 in profits, plus $ 560,953 in pre-assessment interest, and pay a civil fine of $ 1,950,000. Ingersoll-Rand is also instructed to comply with certain attempts regarding its compliance program for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and to pay a $ 2,500,000 fine in accordance with a suspended prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice, Fraud Section.
Complaints by Kurds
The Kurds have complained since the program started that they are not paid a fair share of oil revenues. According to the guidelines set by the Oil for Food Program, revenues should be shared in such a way as to protect Kurdish-dominated Kurdish territory. The allegations include claims that the UN office of the United Nations World Health Organization, run by an individual suspected to have received an oil sales contract, succeeded in halting the construction of a new public hospital for the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniya, although funding for the project has been available since 1998.
Annan Potential Link
On June 14, 2005, two memos of 1998 appeared that linked Kofi Annan with Cotecna Inspection S.A. The first describes the meeting between Annan and Cotecna while the company made an offer for the program, after which the company made an offer. The second mentions that Cotecna believes that they will get an offer because of "effective but quiet lobby" in New York's diplomatic circle. The source document is a Cotecna executive.
The Second Interim Report by IIC confirms that Cotecna won the Oil for Food contract fairly and on merit. The Committee concludes that there is no connection between Kofi Annan and the award of the Cotecna contract; and Cotecna has been transparent and cooperative through this investigation.
Suspicion of Russian intelligence involvement
According to Russian SVR defector Sergei Tretyakov, the Oil-for-Food program was sabotaged by an undercover Russian intelligence officer, Alexander Kramar, a UN employee who set a low oil price in 1998 to allow Saddam to use oil vouchers as a lucrative bribe. The difference between the market price and the price determined by Kramar is pocketed by the people who received the vouchers from Saddam. Among the bribes are high officials from Russia, France, and China. The largest portion of the vouchers (to buy 1.366 billion barrels (2,172 ÃÆ' - 10 11 m 3 ) oil) goes to forty-six individuals or organizations in Russia, including the Russian Orthodox Church. They pocketed $ 476 million. Among the Russians who received the money were Alexander Voloshin and Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Sergei Isakov, a friend of the Voloshin, brought a "bag with money" from Moscow to Baghdad to take the "yield" in return for Saddam.
Alleged use for Al-Qaeda funding
The scandal that struck the United Nations Department of Procurement and the Oil-for-Food Program allegedly involving Al Qaeda's financial operations, Iraq has become a well-known refuge for Al-Qaeda members, under the umbrella of Saddam's regime. These terrorist groups severely exploit the Oil Program for Food and the incentives it creates in Iraqi society.
Foreign officials and groups who have been involved and supported, the Oil for Food Program have in many ways directly expanded the influence and benefits of Al-Qaeda, its operations, and terrorist groups in the region.
Fox News broke the story that Alexander Yakovlev, a Russian official at the UN Procurement Department, was involved; he later resigned and pleaded guilty to charges of corruption. The program is also linked to Ahmed Idris Nasreddin, who was appointed terrorist financier by Britain, the United States and according to the United Nations "belonging to or affiliated with Al Qaeda." Nasreddin was removed from this list in 2007 after he showed that he had severed all business ties with Youssef Nada, who established Al Taqwa Bank with him, and promised not to deal with Nada or the bank. Petra Navigation Group is a blacklisted company blocked from doing business with the US for sanctions abolition activities designed to aid Saddam's regime.
Oil for wheat
A report by UN investigator Paul Volcker released in October 2005 found that the Australian Wheat Board, then AWB Limited, is the main source of major for the Iraqi government. In return for a free-wheat disembarkation purchased under the Oil for Food Program, the Australian Wheat Board paid A $ 300 million 'truck fee' to Alia. Alia is a real Jordanian trucking company, but has no role in the distribution of Australian wheat in Iraq. Alia keeps a small percentage of 'allegations', and passes the rest to Saddam's government. AWB is fully compensated for costs with the price increase paid; payment approved by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Australian government commissioned judge Terence Cole to investigate further whether Australian companies did indeed pay bribes to Saddam's regime. Cole's investigation began in December 2005.
Cole's investigation has received testimony from senior Australian Government officials, including Prime Minister John Howard, Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and various officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. During the investigation, many AWB officials resigned, including the managing director Andrew Lindberg. In 2009, the Australian Federal Police ended an investigation into the scandal.
Investigation
GAO Investigation
After the 2003 Iraq Invasion and the subsequent Coalition victory over the Iraqi army, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was given the task of completing all the Oil-for-Food supply contracts made with the now-defunct regime and tracking the personal property of former members of the regime. During the execution of this task, GAO found weaknesses in programs that allowed bribes and other sources of wealth for Saddam Hussein.
GAO estimates that Saddam Hussein's regime earned $ 10.1 billion in illegal income. This figure includes $ 5.7 billion from oil smuggling and $ 4.4 billion in illegal additional costs on oil sales and after-sales costs on suppliers. The scale of fraud is much broader than previous GAO estimates. A US Department of Defense study, quoted by GAO, evaluated 759 contracts regulated through the Oil for Food Program and found that nearly half had been overpriced, averaging 21 percent. Unlike the 661 committee, members of the Security Council have the authority to initiate contract investigations and terminate contracts they do not like. Britain and America have rejected hundreds of requests for Oil-for-Food contracts, but this is blocked primarily on the grounds that imported goods are dual use technology.
To quote the GAO report, in summary:
Joseph A. Christoff, director of international affairs and commerce at the Public Accounting Firm, told a House hearing that the UN auditors refused to release the internal audit of the Oil for Food Program. Benon Sevan, with support from Kofi Annan, has written to all former Oil-for-Food contractors who asked them to consult with Sevan before releasing any documents to the GAO or the US congressional investigative panel. Throughout its history, the program has received complaints from critics who say it needs to be more open and complaints from companies about proprietary information being disclosed.
The UN has rejected all requests by GAO for access to the secret internal audit of the Oil for Food Program.
While attempting to determine the complexity of the Oil-for-Food Program for articles in The Wall Street Journal, investigative journalist Claudia Rosett of the Democratic Defense Foundation and the Hudson Institute found that the UN treated details such as the identity of the Oil-for-Food contractor ; price, quantity and quality of goods involved in the relief transaction; and the identity of oil buyers and the exact amount they receive as confidential. Bank statements, interest paid, and transactions are all confidential as well. Rosett has come under fire from Denis Halliday and Benon Sevan, who have claimed that many Rosett claims (such as Oil-for-Food fund Olympic stadium approvals, and where responsibility for various issues depends on UN resolutions) are incorrect.
The US Council on International Relations Committee investigated the Oil for Food Program and found that money was provided by Sabah Yassen, a former Iraqi ambassador to Jordan, to pay the families of Palestinian suicide bombers between $ 15,000 to $ 25,000. From September 2000 to the invasion of Iraq, families of Palestinians killed or injured in the conflict with Israel (including 117 in charge of the suicide bombings in Israel) received more than $ 35 million. It is alleged that this money comes from the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program.
Independent Question Committee
Following initial opposition to an investigation, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan declared on March 19, 2004 that a full independent investigation would be launched. In an official press interview, Annan says "[...] it is very likely there are many mistakes, but we need to investigate [...] and see who is responsible." "00:00:03". ( audio clip, @ 5: 56 ) However, Annan is very assertive that most of the claims are "outrageous and exaggerated", and that most of the criticisms have to do with things in where the program has no authority.
The following persons were elected in April 2004 to head the UN Independent Investigating Committee :
- Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve System of the United States and director of the United Nations United States Association;
- Mark Pieth from Switzerland, a money laundering expert at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); and
- Richard Goldstone from South Africa, former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
On 22 April 2004, the UN Security Council passed a unanimous resolution supporting the Volcker's investigation into corruption in the United Nations Oil for Food Program for Iraq, calling on all 191 member countries to cooperate.
The definitive report was submitted by Paul Volcker to the Security Council on 7 September 2005.
The leaked United Nations internal audit, appearing on mineweb.com, shows a big difference between the Cotecna report and the UN agency's report on the value of shipments to northern Iraq. The audit found that Cotecna did not conduct a "value" check on the delivery of nearly US $ 1 billion in aid to the Inter-agency Humanitarian Program to northern Iraq. However, in a subsequent report published by the Independent Questioning Committee (IIC) (October 27, 2005) it was concluded that "there is no major complaint by the United Nations or its member states on Cotecna's performance" and that "the audit does not report any deficiencies in the inspection Cotecna ". Benon Sevan was notified in December 2002 of audit findings.
This audit is available here. The summary states:
- OIOS 'the overall conclusion is that Contract management is inadequate and certain provisions of the Contract have not been complied with. In addition, the incorporation of additional costs, such as camp rehabilitation at the human level, is an unacceptable arrangement. Also, the contract has been altered before its commencement, which is inappropriate. OIP needs to strengthen its contract management and the Procurement Division (PD) must ensure that the payment base is appropriate to avoid additional costs for the Organization
After reading a leaked audit, congressman Henry Hyde wrote to Kofi Annan wondering why "the US Congress - which provides 22 percent of the UN budget and who publicly requests a copy of 55 internal audits - should be required to rely on media leakage for source documents. "
Temporary report results
In a preliminary report of 219 pages, the Volcker Commission documented how OIF chairman Benon Sevan used his position to request and receive oil allocations from Iraq during the years he oversaw the humanitarian aid program. Internal notes from SOMO (Iraq State Petroleum Marketing Organization), as well as interviews with former Iraqi officials involved in oil transactions, show that Sevan has requested and received an allocation of 7.3 million barrels (1,160,000 m 3 ) oil on behalf of a registered Panama trading company called African Middle East Petroleum Co.
Although the report does not make specific allegations of criminal activity by Sevan, Volcker does not rule out the possibility that such allegations may be filed by authorities in countries with relevant jurisdictions. The report calls Sevan's behavior "unethical ethically," and states that Sevan has received huge cash payments totaling $ 160,000 dollars every year he has led the program. Sevan claimed the money came from an aunt in Cyprus who had died, but the panel found no evidence to support this claim.
Volcker also reported in January that a review of 58 internal internal OIF internal confidential audits showed UN officials ignoring early signs that humanitarian goods sent to Iraq before the 2003 invasion were given little if any inspection by the Cotecna company in Switzerland. However, Volker concluded on October 27, 2005, the IIC report that "the audit did not report any deficiencies in the Cotecna inspection". Cotecna paid Kojo Annan, son of Kofi Annan, consulting fee until November 2003. Volcker said that future reports will deal with questions about Kojo Annan.
Investigation by the Iraqi Governing Council
The KPMG international accounting firm has been selected by the Iraqi Governing Council to investigate the claims of al Mada , along with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. It was due to release its findings to the Iraqi Governing Council in May 2004. However, in June 2004, KPMG stopped working on the project because it owed money to the IGC.
The United States has been very critical of KPMG's investigation led by fellow Ahmed Chalabi, who accused him of undermining a major inquiry founded by Paul Bremer. The investigation was conducted by the head of the Iraqi Independent Audit Agency, Ehsan Karim, with help from Ernst & amp; Young. The Supreme Audit Board is within the Ministry of Finance of Iraq. In June 2004, Karim's investigation agreed to share information with the Volcker panel. However, on July 1, 2004, Karim was killed by a magnetic bomb attached to his car.
Claude Hankes-Drielsma, an old British friend of Ahmed Chalabi, was appointed by IGC to coordinate his investigation into the Oil for Food Program. Drielsma testified before the US Congress (on April 21, 2004) that KPMG's investigation "is expected to show a clear connection between countries well prepared to support Saddam Hussein's regime for their own financial gain, at the expense of Iraqi people, and those who oppose the strict implementation of Saddam's sanctions and overthrow ". He also testified that Chalabi was responsible for the investigation for the IGC.
At the end of May 2004, on the same day when the Chalabi office at the Iraqi National Congress was attacked by coalition forces, Drielsma claimed that someone or individual hacked into his computer and deleted every file associated with his investigation. He also claimed that "back-up databank" was also removed. When asked by Claudia Rosett if he has been physically threatened as well, Drielsma responded with "no comment". Drielsma has also strongly criticized the UN's refusal to release the Oil-for-Food internal audit information to the IGC.
Beneficiaries
Russian
According to Saddam's Beneficiaries of Oil Vouchers paper: List 270 , Russian beneficiaries include:
- Russia - 1.366 million barrels (217,200,000 m 3 )
- Zarubezhneft - 174,500,000 barrels (27,740,000 m 3 )
- Russian Liberal Democrats (Vladimir Zhirinovsky) - 79.8 million barrels (12.690.000 m 3 )
- Company Lukoil - 63 million barrels (10,000,000 m 3 )
- Rosneft - 35,500,000 barrels (5,640,000 m 3 )
- Peace and Unity Party Vladimir Putin (Saji Umalatova) - 34,000,000 barrels (5,400,000 m 3 )
- Yetumin (Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs - 30.1 million barrels (4,790,000 m 3 )
- Gazprom - 26,000,000 barrels (4.1 million 3 )
- Soyuzneftegaz (Shafrannik) - 25,500,000 barrels (4.050.000 m 3 )
- Moscow Oil Company - 25.1 million barrels (3,990,000 m 3 )
- Onako - 22.200.000 barrel (3.530.000 m 3 )
- Sidanco - 21.2 million barrels (3,370,000 m 3 )
- Russian Solidarity Association with Iraq - 12,500,000 barrels (1,990,000 m 3 )
- The son of the former Russian Ambassador to Iraq - 19.7 million barrels (3,130,000 m 3 )
- Nikolai Ryzhkov (Ex PM of the Soviet Union) - 13,000,000 barrels (2,100,000 m 3 )
- Russneft (and) Gazexport - 12,500,000 barrels (1,990,000 m 3 )
- Transneft - 9,000,000 barrels (1,400,000 m 3 )
- The Ural Investment Company - 8,500,000 barrels (1,350,000 m 3 )
- Sibneft - 8,100,000 barrels (1,290,000 m 3 )
- Stroyneftegaz - 6,000,000 barrels (950,000 m 3 )
- Rus. Com. for Solidarity with the People of Iraq (Rudasev) - 6,500,000 barrels (1,030,000 m 3 )
- Russian Orthodox Church - 5,000,000 barrels (790,000 m 3 )
- Director of the Russian President's office - 5,000,000 barrels (790,000 m 3 )
- Moscow Academy of Sciences - 3,500,000 barrels (560,000 m 3 )
- Chechen Administration - 2,000,000 barrels (320,000 m 3 )
- The Democratic National Party - 2,000,000 barrels (320,000 m 3 )
- Nordwest Group - 2,000,000 barrels (320,000 m 3 )
- Yukos - 2,000,000 barrels (320,000 m 3 )
- Russian MFA (Al-Fayko) (Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Mashinoimport - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Slavneft - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- The Caspian Invest Company (Kalika) - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- The Russian Communist Party - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Tatneft - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Surgutneft - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- The Siberian oil and gas company - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
More
Other Beneficiaries:
Austria:
- The Arab-Austrians (led by Fritz Edlinger) - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 ).
Belarus:
- The Liberal Party - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- The Communist Party of Belarus - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
Brazil:
- The October 8 Revolutionary Movement, the Brazilian Communist group - 4,500,000 barrels (720,000 m 3 )
Canada:
- Arthur Millholland, president and CEO of Oilexco company
FR Yugoslavia (De facto: Serbia and Montenegro):
- Yugoslavia Left Party - 9,500,000 barrels (1,510,000 m 3 )
- Socialist Party - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Italian Party - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- "kokstuntsha" - maybe Kostunica party - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
Other parties:
- Romania Labor Party - 5,500,000 barrels (870,000 m 3 )
- Hungarian Flower Party - 4,700,000 barrels (750,000 m 3 )
- Bulgarian Socialist Party - 12,000,000 barrels (1,900,000 m 3 )
- Slovak Communist Party - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
France:
- French-Arab Friendship Association - 15.1 million barrels (2,400,000 m 3 )
- Former French Minister of the Interior Charles Pasqua - 12,000,000 barrels (1,900,000 m 3 )
- Patrick Maugein, Trafigura company - 25,000,000 barrels (4,000,000 m 3 )
- Michel Grimard, "founder of the French-Iraqi Export Club" - 17.1 million barrels (2.720.000 m 3 ).
Egypt:
- Khaled Gamal Abd Al-Nasser, "son of the late Egyptian president" - 16.6 million barrels (2.640.000 m 3 )
- Imad Al-Galda, "an Egyptian businessman and MP from President Mubarak's National Democratic Party" - 14,000,000 barrels (2,200,000 m 3 )
- Abd Al-Azim Mannaf, "editor of the Sout Al Arab newspaper" - 6,000,000 barrels (950,000 m 3 )
- Muhammad Hilmi, "editor of Egyptian newspaper Sahwat Misr" - the number of barrels undisclosed.
- United Arab Company - 6,000,000 barrels (950,000 m 3 )
- Company Nile and Euphrates - 3,000,000 barrels (480,000 m 3 )
- The Al-Multaqa Foundation for Press and Publication - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 ).
Libya:
- Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
India:
- Indian National Congress - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
Indonesia:
- Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000Ã, m 3 )
Italy:
- The Italian Petrol Union - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- West Petrol, an Italian company that trades crude oil and oil products - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Roberto Formigoni, possibly president of Lombardy - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Salvatore Nicotra, an oil trader - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
Myanmar:
- Myanmar Forestry Minister - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
Palestine:
- Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) - 4,000,000 barrels (640,000 m 3 )
- PLO ​​Political Bureau - 5,000,000 barrels (790,000 m 3 )
- Abu Al-Abbas - 11.5 million barrels (1,830,000 m 3 )
- Abdallah Al-Horani - 8,000,000 barrels (1,300,000 m 3 )
- PFLP - 5,000,000 barrels (790,000 m 3 )
- Wafa Tawfiq Al-Sayegh - 4,000,000 barrels (640,000 m 3 )
Qatar:
- Chairman of the Qatar Hamad bin Ali Aal Thani Balancing Association - 14,000,000 barrels (2,200,000 m 3 )
- Gulf Petroleum - 2.000.000 barrels (320,000 m 3 )
Spain:
- Basem Qaqish, "a member of the Spanish Committee for the Defense of Arab Cause" - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Ali Ballout, "a pro-Saddam Lebanese journalist" - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Javier Robert - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
Suriah:
- Farras Mustafa Tlass, "Putra Menteri Pertahanan Suriah Mustafa Tlass" - 6.000.000 barel (950,000m 3 )
- Audh Amourah - 18,000,000 barel (2.900,000 m 3 )
- Ghassan Zakariya - 6.000.000 barel (950,000m 3 )
- Anwar al-Aqqad - 2.000.000 barel (320.000 m 3 )
- Hamida Na'na ', pemilik Al Wefaq al-Arabi Berkala - 1.000.000 barel (160.000 m 3 ).
Switzerland:
- Glencore, Switzerland's biggest commodity trader - 12,000,000 barrels (1,900,000 m 3 )
- Taurus Petroleum - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Petrogas, which is "listed under three sub-companies - Petrogas Services, Petrogas Distribution, and Petrogas Resources - and associated with Russian company Rosneftegazetroy" - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Alcon, "registered in Lichtenstein and associated with larger oil companies" - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Finar Holdings, which is "listed in Lugano, Switzerland, and in liquidation" - receives 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
Ukraine:
- Social Democrat Party - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 ).
- The Communist Party - 6,000,000 barrels (950,000 m 3 ).
- The Socialist Party - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 ).
- The oil company FTD - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 ), as did other Ukrainian companies.
United Kingdom:
- George Galloway - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
- Fawwaz Zreiqat - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 ). Zreiqat also appeared in the Jordanian area for having received 6,000,000 barrels (950,000 m 3 )
- Mujahideen Khalq - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 )
United States of America:
- Samir Vincent, "organized a delegation of Iraqi religious leaders to visit the United States and meet former president Jimmy Carter" - 10,500,000 barrels (1,670,000 m 3 )
- Shaker Al-Khafaji, "the pro-Saddam chairman of the 17th conference of Iraqi expatriates" - 1,000,000 barrels (160,000 m 3 ).
Other beneficiaries are companies and individuals from Sudan, Yemen, Cyprus, Turkey, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Romania, UAE, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Panama, Thailand, Chad, China, Nigeria, Kenya, Ireland, Bahrain, and the Philippines and two Saudi Arabian companies.
Criminal investigation in France
The French criminal justice system is investigating the alleged involvement of two former officials of the French Foreign Ministry, Jean-Bernard MÃ © Â © rimÃÆ'Â © e and Serge Boidevaix. Both are accused of using their extensive network of connections in the Arab world to perform "leverage effect" and "corruption of foreign public agencies". They have undergone a formal criminal investigation by investigating judge Philippe Courroye, a well-known specialist in corruption cases and other financial transactions. Both men had retired at the time of the crime and acted in their personal capacity, not as official envoys of the French government; however, Boidevaix claims that he made the Foreign Ministry informed of his actions in Iraq. The ministry claims to have officially alerted both men in 2001 (during the reign of Lionel Jospin).
Several others, including Bernard Guillet, an assistant French senator Charles Pasqua, are also being formally investigated. Guillet and Pasqua denied any wrongdoing.
US Senate Investigation
US Senator Norm Coleman asked Kofi Annan to resign over the scandal and hold a number of hearings on the matter. The most spectacular of these hearings came after the subcommittee released a report accusing (then) British MP MP George Galloway, Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky and former French Minister of the Interior Charles Pasqua received an oil allocation from Iraq in return for Saddam's political allies Hussein. Galloway, in the unusual appearance of a British MP before a US Senate subcommittee, responded angrily to the charges against him in a confrontational public hearing that attracted much media attention in America and Britain. Galloway denied the allegations.
It is estimated that as much as $ 10 billion to $ 21.3 billion is unknown and/or directed to Saddam Hussein and his government in the form of bribery and oil smuggling. Recording of illegal behavior is difficult to obtain and rare. To date, only 1 in 54 internal internal audits of the Oil for Food Program are publicly announced. The UN has rejected all requests for its audits.
Warren Hoge alleged that the American government was aware of the scandal and chose not to prevent smuggling because their allies, Turkey and Jordan, benefited from the bulk of smuggled oil. US Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan) was quoted in an interview to the New York Times as saying, "There is no question that a large proportion of the illegal oil revenues come from the sale of Iraqi oil publicly to Jordan and to Turkey, and that's how to get around the Oil-for-Food Program [and that] we are fully aware of the bypass and look the other way. "
Indictment
On January 6, 2006, South Korean businessman Tongsun Park was arrested by the FBI in Houston after he was illegally charged with receiving millions of dollars from Iraq in the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program. The criminal charges against him were sealed in the US District Court in Manhattan.
After an investigation by the New York Field Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on January 16, 2007, Benon Sevan was indicted by prosecutors from the Southern District of New York for taking a bribe of $ 160,000. Michael J. Garcia, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, issued a warrant via Interpol for the arrest of Sevan at his home in Cyprus, as well as a warrant for Ephraim "Fred" Nadler, a New York businessman indicted on charges of channeling illegal payments to Sevan. Nadler's whereabouts are unknown.
Daimler AG Kickbacks case
On April 1, 2010, Daimler AG pleaded guilty to allegations of bribery brought by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission and will pay $ 185 million (US) in settlement, but remain subject to a two-year pending review and supervisory agreement by an independent monitor. German carmaker Mercedes-Benz is accused of violating the terms of the United Nations' Pet Food Program with Iraq by placing a bribe of 10 percent of the contract value to the Iraqi government. The SEC said the company earned more than $ 4 million from sales of vehicles and spare parts.
The SEC case was triggered in 2004 after David Bazzetta, a former auditor at the time DaimlerChrysler Corp., filed a whistle blower complaint after he was fired for asking questions about a bank account controlled by a Mercedes-Benz unit in South America. Bazzetta alleged that he studied at a company executive audit committee meeting in July 2001 in Stuttgart that the business unit "continues to keep secret bank accounts to bribe foreign government officials", even though the company knows the practice violates US law.
Investigations for the case also revealed that Daimler made $ 56 million in bribes linked to more than 200 transactions in 22 countries that earned $ 1.9 billion in corporate income and at least $ 91.4 million in illegal profits. "Using overseas bank accounts, third party agents and deceptive pricing practices, these companies [Daimler AG and its subsidiaries] see foreign bribery as a way of doing business," said Mythili Raman, a major deputy in the criminal division of the Department of Justice.
"It's no exaggeration to describe corruption and pay bribes at Daimler as a standard business practice", Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC's enforcement division, said in a statement.
Judge Richard J. Leon of the United States District Court in Washington approved the defense and settlement treaty, calling it a "fair resolution."
See also
- Iraqi sanctions
- Iraqi economy
- Management of Iraq Reconstruction Program
- Hearing Program of Oil Program for Food
- Fuel vs food
- Oil prices
Footnote
-
Duelfer, Charles; Iraq Survey Group (September 30, 2004). Comprehensive Report of DCI's Special Adviser on Iraq WMD . Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency. ISBNÃ, 0-16-072492-9 . Retrieved 2 November 2011 .
External links
Site
- http://iic-offp.org - Independent Inquiry into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program
- Resolution 986 authorizes the Oil for Food Program
- The United Nations Office for the Iraqi Oil Program for Food
- Facts on Oil for Food - a site of the UN Foundation, an independent UN political amplifier organization
- SourceWatch on the Oil for Food Program
- http://www.burfordmaney.com/ourcases/republicofiraqvabbl.html
Articles
2007
- europaticker: oil for food - scandal in Iraq: German transparency puts complaints against 57 German firms
- Tel Chai Nation: Oil-for-Food Scandal: Houston-based defendant
2005
- Placing Oil-for-Food in Perspective, JURIST, November 2, 2005
- Oil for food: Failure together - Road is still long, transparency.org, October 27, 2005
- "U.N.: 2,200 Companies Provide Help for Iraq", Nick Wadhams & amp; Edith Lederer, Associated Press, Yahoo News, October 27, 2005
- Financial Times <13 January 2005, "US ignores warnings over Iraqi oil smuggling"
- CNN.com, Document: US forgives Iraqi oil smuggling, February 2, 2005
- BBC, April 15, 2005, Row deepens UN oil scandal
- The Guardian , May 17, 2005, US supports illegal Iraqi oil deal '
- AlterNet , October 4, 2005, "Kofi and Pimps Scandal"
- Le Monde , October 13, 2005, M. Boidevaix aurait ÃÆ' Â © tÃÆ' Â © "en contact avec le quai d'Orsay constant"
2004
- Oil for Food Scandals in the US - Washington Times , March 2004
- BBC, March 19, 2004, Galloway received defamation
- Jean-David Levitte, Los Angeles Times , 7 April 2004, First 'Freedom Fries,' Now Lies Oil for Food; Op ed from the French ambassador to the US
- Claudia Rosett, Comment , May 2004, "What did Kofi Annan Know, and When Did He Know That?"
- Hankes-Drielsma Connection to Chalabi, May 2004
- The U.N. Is Us: Expressing Saddam Hussein's Husband Partnership US Conspirators at Oil Smuggling Harper Magazine, December 2004
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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