The Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction report to Congress has found that corruption and waste has cost the US taxpayer an estimated $12BN wrt reconstruction monies "invested" in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The report found that "criminal behaviour and blatant corruption" were responsible for much of the waste related to the nearly $200BN spent since 2002 on US reconstruction and other projects in the two countries.
Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
Friday, February 25, 2011
Monday, November 22, 2010
Iraq Runs Out Of Money
Despite being an oil wealthy nation, it appears that Iraq has run out of money to pay for widows' benefits, farm crops and other programs for the poor.
Ironically there have been sufficient funds to pay members of the Iraqi parliament $100K each, for meeting four times since the election in March.
Notwithstanding that largess, it seems that the $1BN social care budget for 2010 has been used up.
The question that everyone is asking is, where has that money actually gone?
Ironically there have been sufficient funds to pay members of the Iraqi parliament $100K each, for meeting four times since the election in March.
Notwithstanding that largess, it seems that the $1BN social care budget for 2010 has been used up.
The question that everyone is asking is, where has that money actually gone?
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Sanctions Breached
Mabey & Johnson, a British bridge construction company, has admitted that it may have made corrupt payments to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq to win an export order.
Mabey & Johnson have been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for more than a year.
In its recent annual results Mabey said that in April this year, it "disclosed to the SFO evidence that had come to light suggesting that in 2002 the company may have indirectly made two payments to the Iraqi regime in breach of UN sanctions".
Mabey added that it "has recently been notified of allegations that certain historical contracts may have been procured through corrupt acts".
The company has called in a firm of City lawyers, Herbert Smith, to carry out its own inquiry into all the corruption allegations. New managers have been installed at the firm.
The UN report in sanctions busting alleges that Mabey paid a $202K kickback between 2001 and 2003, and was given a $3.6M contract by the Iraqis.
Mabey & Johnson have been under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office for more than a year.
In its recent annual results Mabey said that in April this year, it "disclosed to the SFO evidence that had come to light suggesting that in 2002 the company may have indirectly made two payments to the Iraqi regime in breach of UN sanctions".
Mabey added that it "has recently been notified of allegations that certain historical contracts may have been procured through corrupt acts".
The company has called in a firm of City lawyers, Herbert Smith, to carry out its own inquiry into all the corruption allegations. New managers have been installed at the firm.
The UN report in sanctions busting alleges that Mabey paid a $202K kickback between 2001 and 2003, and was given a $3.6M contract by the Iraqis.
Monday, April 28, 2008
The Waste
Aside from the appalling waste of lives that the failed Iraq intervention has caused, there has also been a significant waste of money.
An audit performed by The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), of US funded reconstruction projects, has found that millions of dollars have been wasted because many schemes have never been completed.
SIGIR highlights delays, costs, poor performance and violence for failure to finish some 855 projects.
It also noted that many other projects (in the audit of 47,321 projects) had been falsely described as complete.
The financial cost to the US taxpayers currently exceeds $100BN.
How long will the American people tolerate being ripped off in this manner by their own government, and corrupt construction companies?
An audit performed by The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), of US funded reconstruction projects, has found that millions of dollars have been wasted because many schemes have never been completed.
SIGIR highlights delays, costs, poor performance and violence for failure to finish some 855 projects.
It also noted that many other projects (in the audit of 47,321 projects) had been falsely described as complete.
The financial cost to the US taxpayers currently exceeds $100BN.
How long will the American people tolerate being ripped off in this manner by their own government, and corrupt construction companies?
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Iraq Reconsturction Fails
A US federal audit report has condemned the US attempts to reconstruct Iraq as being a total failure.
The reconstruction is so blighted by local corruption and insurgency violence, that most buildings fall into disrepair within six months of being completed.
The 210 page report was prepared by the American Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (Sigir). It concludes that fraud and corruption are so widespread within Iraqi departments, that the Iraqi annual financial loss now exceeds $7BN.
When buildings are completed, they are not being "adequately maintained". Repairmen and workers face intimidation and death threats, making their task all but impossible.
The report noted that at Baghdad Airport the vast majority of electricity generators were not working. At a maternity hospital in Irbil hypodermic needles, bandages and other medical wastes were found to have been thrown in the sewer system's traps and septic tank.
The US Government is trying to lay the blame on Iraqi incompetence, and notes that it could not "micro-manage" how American-funded facilities are run on the ground.
Sigir's last report, in January, said that reconstruction cash was being stolen by corrupt Iraqi officials and often disappearing without proper accounting in a "Wild West" atmosphere.
The State Department report on global terrorism noted that 46% of all terrorism attacks around the world took place in Iraq alone in 2006.
Therefore when President Bush claimed "mission accomplished", some time ago, what exactly was he talking about?
How has the invasion of Iraq made the world a safer place?
The reconstruction is so blighted by local corruption and insurgency violence, that most buildings fall into disrepair within six months of being completed.
The 210 page report was prepared by the American Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (Sigir). It concludes that fraud and corruption are so widespread within Iraqi departments, that the Iraqi annual financial loss now exceeds $7BN.
When buildings are completed, they are not being "adequately maintained". Repairmen and workers face intimidation and death threats, making their task all but impossible.
The report noted that at Baghdad Airport the vast majority of electricity generators were not working. At a maternity hospital in Irbil hypodermic needles, bandages and other medical wastes were found to have been thrown in the sewer system's traps and septic tank.
The US Government is trying to lay the blame on Iraqi incompetence, and notes that it could not "micro-manage" how American-funded facilities are run on the ground.
Sigir's last report, in January, said that reconstruction cash was being stolen by corrupt Iraqi officials and often disappearing without proper accounting in a "Wild West" atmosphere.
The State Department report on global terrorism noted that 46% of all terrorism attacks around the world took place in Iraq alone in 2006.
Therefore when President Bush claimed "mission accomplished", some time ago, what exactly was he talking about?
How has the invasion of Iraq made the world a safer place?
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
AWB Sued
AWB Ltd, the Australian wheat exported implicated in the oil for food kickback scandal, is facing lawsuits in both Australia and the USA.
Lawyers in both Sydney and New York have lodged claims for a combined $125M.
Retired farmers John and Kaye Watson are the lead plaintiffs in a class action lodged on behalf of AWB shareholders in Sydney's Federal Court.
Mr Watson owned 10,000 AWB shares, which were once worth more than $6 each. The share price halved during the Cole inquiry into the Iraq kickback scandal, which found that AWB had been channeling money to Saddam Hussein's regime in the build up to the Iraq war.
Mr Watson says he lost around $10,000 of his investment in AWB.
Mr Watson said:
"The evidence suggests they were corrupt, full-stop. They were supposed to keep the market informed but they misled the government and the shareholders."
The US law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld and Toll filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of American wheat farmers in federal district court in New York.
The suit seeks up to $100 million in damages from AWB Ltd and its US subsidiary, AWB (USA) Ltd.
US farmers claim they were "stuck with an oversupply of wheat" between 1999 and 2003, because Iraq dealt only with AWB Ltd.
The suit invokes the RICO racketeering law, it says AWB "paid bribes to the Iraqi government" to "exploit a monopoly on wheat sold into Iraq."
Partner Benjamin Brown said:
"AWB knew that, by paying these bribes, it would profit at the direct expense of American farmers -- its only real competition in the Iraqi market.
Unfortunately, AWB achieved its monopoly in the Iraqi market not through fair competition, but by deceiving the United Nations into unwittingly funding Hussein's corrupt regime."
What goes around, comes around.
Lawyers in both Sydney and New York have lodged claims for a combined $125M.
Retired farmers John and Kaye Watson are the lead plaintiffs in a class action lodged on behalf of AWB shareholders in Sydney's Federal Court.
Mr Watson owned 10,000 AWB shares, which were once worth more than $6 each. The share price halved during the Cole inquiry into the Iraq kickback scandal, which found that AWB had been channeling money to Saddam Hussein's regime in the build up to the Iraq war.
Mr Watson says he lost around $10,000 of his investment in AWB.
Mr Watson said:
"The evidence suggests they were corrupt, full-stop. They were supposed to keep the market informed but they misled the government and the shareholders."
The US law firm of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld and Toll filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of American wheat farmers in federal district court in New York.
The suit seeks up to $100 million in damages from AWB Ltd and its US subsidiary, AWB (USA) Ltd.
US farmers claim they were "stuck with an oversupply of wheat" between 1999 and 2003, because Iraq dealt only with AWB Ltd.
The suit invokes the RICO racketeering law, it says AWB "paid bribes to the Iraqi government" to "exploit a monopoly on wheat sold into Iraq."
Partner Benjamin Brown said:
"AWB knew that, by paying these bribes, it would profit at the direct expense of American farmers -- its only real competition in the Iraqi market.
Unfortunately, AWB achieved its monopoly in the Iraqi market not through fair competition, but by deceiving the United Nations into unwittingly funding Hussein's corrupt regime."
What goes around, comes around.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Four Years On
Four years after the toppling of Saddam Hussein, by the US, life for the Iraqi people can be reasonably described as being "pretty awful".
In the midst of the corruption, revenge killings, sectarian warfare and chaos that the enforced "regime change" has brought about there have been some attempts to instill a spirit of freedom and hope for the future. Yet none of these have captured the hearts or minds of the people of Iraq.
Four years ago Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled, for all the world to see, by US marines; this was a potent symbol of the regime's downfall.
However, nature abhors a vacuum. What was there to replace the regime?
It became all to clear that the US had not thought through its post regime change occupation, and indeed had very naively hoped that democracy "light" would magically take root.
Two months after the statue was felled a replacement statue, called Najeen (survivor), was erected. It shows a woman, supported by a man and a child, holding up an Islamic crescent moon that frames a Sumerian sun.
It failed to inspire and was derided.
The most telling sign of trouble to come is the fact that the "new" Iraq has yet to create a new flag. This failure is the most potent symbol of the failure of the invasion and enforced regime change, the inability to agree on the design of a flag means that the Iraqi's themselves do not see that they they have a future.
A country without a flag, is a country without a future.
In the midst of the corruption, revenge killings, sectarian warfare and chaos that the enforced "regime change" has brought about there have been some attempts to instill a spirit of freedom and hope for the future. Yet none of these have captured the hearts or minds of the people of Iraq.
Four years ago Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled, for all the world to see, by US marines; this was a potent symbol of the regime's downfall.
However, nature abhors a vacuum. What was there to replace the regime?
It became all to clear that the US had not thought through its post regime change occupation, and indeed had very naively hoped that democracy "light" would magically take root.
Two months after the statue was felled a replacement statue, called Najeen (survivor), was erected. It shows a woman, supported by a man and a child, holding up an Islamic crescent moon that frames a Sumerian sun.
It failed to inspire and was derided.
The most telling sign of trouble to come is the fact that the "new" Iraq has yet to create a new flag. This failure is the most potent symbol of the failure of the invasion and enforced regime change, the inability to agree on the design of a flag means that the Iraqi's themselves do not see that they they have a future.
A country without a flag, is a country without a future.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Iraq Bribe Scandal
Tongsun Park, a South Korean businessman and lobbyist, has has been jailed for five years for accepting kickbacks from Saddam Hussein to subvert the UN's oil-for-food program in Iraq.
Park was convicted on conspiracy charges in July 2006, for receiving at least $2M from Baghdad.
Park was sentenced at a hearing in New York.
US District Court Judge Denny Chin, sentencing Park, said that the 5 year term was "harsh" for a man of Park's age (71) and health but was reasonable and appropriate.
Park was also fined $15K, and told to forfeit $1.2M.
Mr Park travelled to Iraq to collect $700K in cash, and accepted envelopes stuffed with $100 notes, Judge Chin said.
Quote:
"You acted out of greed, acted to profit out of what was supposed to be a humanitarian program."
Park is also due to face trial in Washington DC, accused of making false statements about his role in the UN programme in an interview with FBI agents in December 2004.
Park was convicted on conspiracy charges in July 2006, for receiving at least $2M from Baghdad.
Park was sentenced at a hearing in New York.
US District Court Judge Denny Chin, sentencing Park, said that the 5 year term was "harsh" for a man of Park's age (71) and health but was reasonable and appropriate.
Park was also fined $15K, and told to forfeit $1.2M.
Mr Park travelled to Iraq to collect $700K in cash, and accepted envelopes stuffed with $100 notes, Judge Chin said.
Quote:
"You acted out of greed, acted to profit out of what was supposed to be a humanitarian program."
Park is also due to face trial in Washington DC, accused of making false statements about his role in the UN programme in an interview with FBI agents in December 2004.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
British Firms Investigated
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating a number of British companies, over allegations that they paid bribes to Saddam Hussein to win lucrative contracts.
The investigation will look at possible breaches of the oil-for-food sanctions.
The UN has issued a report which lists over 2,200 companies, worldwide, that may have been linked to bribery to Iraq.
The British firms listed in the report by Paul Volcker, submitted two years ago, include GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. They have all denied the accusations.
The SFO spokesman said:
"The SFO has now opened a formal investigation into issues relating to the breaches of the embargo (against Iraq).
All this springs out of the Volcker report and other information that came to us last year. The director of the SFO has now signed us up to conduct a full investigation."
AstraZeneca state:
"We deny any allegation of unethical behaviour on our part in our trading relationships with Iraq,” a spokesman said.
AstraZeneca sent a consignment of medicines originally requested by the Hussein government under the United Nations Oil for Food Programme.
Most of the consignment was delivered after the coalition forces of the US and UK had taken control of the country.
The consignment was sent with all relevant United Nations permissions and UK Government Department of Trade and Industry export licences in place."
A GlaxoSmithKline spokesman said:
"GSK denies any wrongdoing. The UN Oil for Food programme was run in the UK by the Department of Trade and Industry and GSK operated entirely within DTI guidance in this area.
Indeed, GSK had a regular dialogue with officials at the DTI in order to ensure that all its dealings under the Oil for Food programme were transparent and in accordance with the regulations."
The investigation will take years and cost millions.
The investigation will look at possible breaches of the oil-for-food sanctions.
The UN has issued a report which lists over 2,200 companies, worldwide, that may have been linked to bribery to Iraq.
The British firms listed in the report by Paul Volcker, submitted two years ago, include GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca. They have all denied the accusations.
The SFO spokesman said:
"The SFO has now opened a formal investigation into issues relating to the breaches of the embargo (against Iraq).
All this springs out of the Volcker report and other information that came to us last year. The director of the SFO has now signed us up to conduct a full investigation."
AstraZeneca state:
"We deny any allegation of unethical behaviour on our part in our trading relationships with Iraq,” a spokesman said.
AstraZeneca sent a consignment of medicines originally requested by the Hussein government under the United Nations Oil for Food Programme.
Most of the consignment was delivered after the coalition forces of the US and UK had taken control of the country.
The consignment was sent with all relevant United Nations permissions and UK Government Department of Trade and Industry export licences in place."
A GlaxoSmithKline spokesman said:
"GSK denies any wrongdoing. The UN Oil for Food programme was run in the UK by the Department of Trade and Industry and GSK operated entirely within DTI guidance in this area.
Indeed, GSK had a regular dialogue with officials at the DTI in order to ensure that all its dealings under the Oil for Food programme were transparent and in accordance with the regulations."
The investigation will take years and cost millions.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Iraq Watchdog To Close Down
The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, a federal agency serving the American public as a watchdog for fraud, waste, and abuse of funds intended for Iraq reconstruction programs, will close in 2007.
The watchdog has exposed corrupt practices within the Bush administration, and cynics claim that its closure is due to its findings of fraud and corruption which make uncomfortable reading for supporters of Bush's failed Iraq venture.
The audit office began operations in March 2004.
Currently, SIGIR has 82 open preliminary and criminal investigations. Twenty–five of those cases are currently at the Department of Justice (DoJ), and many are in the final stages of prosecution. Two cases have resulted in convictions and are currently pending sentence.
The watchdog has exposed corrupt practices within the Bush administration, and cynics claim that its closure is due to its findings of fraud and corruption which make uncomfortable reading for supporters of Bush's failed Iraq venture.
The audit office began operations in March 2004.
Currently, SIGIR has 82 open preliminary and criminal investigations. Twenty–five of those cases are currently at the Department of Justice (DoJ), and many are in the final stages of prosecution. Two cases have resulted in convictions and are currently pending sentence.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
AWB Faces Tax Inspection
AWB, the Australian wheat firm at the centre of a multi million dollar kickback scandal involving Saddam Hussein, has more problems. They are likely to be subject to a tax inspection.
Australian tax commissioner, Michael D'Ascenzo, has released the office's compliance program for 2006-2007.
In the document is the phrase:
"We will check systems to ensure bribes and facilitation payments are not wrongly claimed as tax deductions."
In the Cole inquiry earlier this year an AWB financial officer, Paul Ingleby, said that the company had claimed up to $300M in kickbacks to the regime of Saddam Hussein as a tax write-off.
Ingleby alleged that the payment of "trucking fees", kickbacks demanded by Saddam, was treated by AWB as an expense and therefore a tax deduction.
The tax office will review significant, one-off, regular or embedded payments by Australian firms in "jurisdictions where bribes or facilitation payments are said to be part of doing business".
What goes around, comes around.
Australian tax commissioner, Michael D'Ascenzo, has released the office's compliance program for 2006-2007.
In the document is the phrase:
"We will check systems to ensure bribes and facilitation payments are not wrongly claimed as tax deductions."
In the Cole inquiry earlier this year an AWB financial officer, Paul Ingleby, said that the company had claimed up to $300M in kickbacks to the regime of Saddam Hussein as a tax write-off.
Ingleby alleged that the payment of "trucking fees", kickbacks demanded by Saddam, was treated by AWB as an expense and therefore a tax deduction.
The tax office will review significant, one-off, regular or embedded payments by Australian firms in "jurisdictions where bribes or facilitation payments are said to be part of doing business".
What goes around, comes around.
Friday, May 12, 2006
AWB Diplomatic Failure
The Cole inquiry in Australia into the AWB kickbacks scandal has been told by numerous diplomats that they were aware of allegations that Saddam Hussein had corrupted the UN oil-for-food program, but no one ordered an investigation.
In statements made to the inquiry, it seems that senior staff around the world were warned about kickbacks in 2000. However, no one acted because they believed that there was no evidence that AWB was involved and AWB denied being corrupt.
AWB paid over $290M in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime through a Jordanian trucking company, Alia.
Australian diplomat Bronte Moules reportedly sent several diplomatic cables raising his concerns about corruption to officials in Canberra in 2000. However, strange as it may seem, very few people could recall reading them.
Shameful!
In statements made to the inquiry, it seems that senior staff around the world were warned about kickbacks in 2000. However, no one acted because they believed that there was no evidence that AWB was involved and AWB denied being corrupt.
AWB paid over $290M in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime through a Jordanian trucking company, Alia.
Australian diplomat Bronte Moules reportedly sent several diplomatic cables raising his concerns about corruption to officials in Canberra in 2000. However, strange as it may seem, very few people could recall reading them.
Shameful!
Friday, March 24, 2006
UN Rebukes Australian Government
It was revealed yesterday that the UN has delivered a stern rebuke to the Australian government, for stonewalling its own investigation into kickbacks to Saddam Hussein.
UN investigator Paul Volcker apparently described Australia's attitude to his investigation as "beyond reticent, even forbidding" at a meeting in New York on February 7 2005, according to an internal government report released yesterday.
Volcker rebuked the Australian Ambassador, John Dauth, after learning that Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer had refused his UN investigating team permission to interview Australian government officials personally, as well as blocking access to classified Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade cables.
Mr Volcker had been investigating companies abuse of UN sanctions against Saddam. The Australian wheat company, AWB, was the worst offender; paying almost $300M in bribes to Saddam.
The Australian government has always claimed that it has co-operated fully with the Volcker Panel.
Clean hands?
UN investigator Paul Volcker apparently described Australia's attitude to his investigation as "beyond reticent, even forbidding" at a meeting in New York on February 7 2005, according to an internal government report released yesterday.
Volcker rebuked the Australian Ambassador, John Dauth, after learning that Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer had refused his UN investigating team permission to interview Australian government officials personally, as well as blocking access to classified Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade cables.
Mr Volcker had been investigating companies abuse of UN sanctions against Saddam. The Australian wheat company, AWB, was the worst offender; paying almost $300M in bribes to Saddam.
The Australian government has always claimed that it has co-operated fully with the Volcker Panel.
Clean hands?
Thursday, February 09, 2006
AWB Head Resigns
Andrew Lindberg the MD of the Australian firm, AWB, which is accused of paying bribes to the former Iraqi regime has resigned (effective April).
An inquiry is currently investigating claims that AWB paid over $200M to Saddam Hussein's regime, as part of the UN oil-for-food programme.
AWB denies any wrongdoing, but an earlier investigation by the UN said it should have known the money was going into the pockets of Iraqi ministers.
The allegations have provoked further allegations in Australia, that the government knew about the kickbacks; they have denied this.
An inquiry is currently investigating claims that AWB paid over $200M to Saddam Hussein's regime, as part of the UN oil-for-food programme.
AWB denies any wrongdoing, but an earlier investigation by the UN said it should have known the money was going into the pockets of Iraqi ministers.
The allegations have provoked further allegations in Australia, that the government knew about the kickbacks; they have denied this.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Australian PM In Kickback Scandal
The scandal engulfing the Australian wheat monopoly AWB, and its alleged kick backs in the oil for food programme, worsened as Australian Prime Minister John Howard denied that Australian officials had knowledge of millions of dollars in alleged kickbacks.
His comments were made in response to the publication of a July 2002 letter; in the letter Howard urged AWB's Managing Director, Andrew Lindberg, to stay "in close contact" with government officials as Iraq threatened to halve wheat imports from Australia because of its support for the United States.
AWB Ltd, formerly the Australian Wheat Board, is being investigated by the Australian government for allegedly paying US$221.7M in bogus fees to the Jordanian trucking firm Alia, which was part-owned by the Iraqi government.
The money was then allegedly diverted to Saddam Hussein.
The inquiry is at the request of the United Nations, which issued a report by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker in October 2005 that stated that AWB made the "side payments" in violation of U.N. sanctions.
Howard stated in the letter:
"The government cannot accept any Iraqi attempt to politicise our wheat trade or to pressure us into dropping our support for U.N. Security Council resolutions requiring international inspection of Iraq's (weapons) facilities.
In view of the importance of this matter, I suggest that the government and AWB Ltd. remain in close contact in order that we can jointly attempt to achieve a satisfactory outcome in the longer term."
After the letter was sent, Lindberg visited Iraq with officials from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
It is alleged that during that visit Lindberg agreed to pay Saddam's government US$2M in kickbacks, that were concealed in an inflated wheat contract.
Howard rejected the accusation that the government had known about the alleged kickbacks:
"We were in no way involved with the payment of bribes. We didn't condone them, we didn't have knowledge of them, but we did work closely with AWB."
"I would have been failing in my job as prime minister if I hadn't done everything I could to maintain and protect the wheat market because it was one of our best."
Kim Beazley, leader of the centre-left opposition Labor Party, said:
"Anything less (than a full enquiry) is a cover-up of what has been, to my mind, the worst piece of corruption I have seen in my 25 years as a federal politician at the federal level."
His comments were made in response to the publication of a July 2002 letter; in the letter Howard urged AWB's Managing Director, Andrew Lindberg, to stay "in close contact" with government officials as Iraq threatened to halve wheat imports from Australia because of its support for the United States.
AWB Ltd, formerly the Australian Wheat Board, is being investigated by the Australian government for allegedly paying US$221.7M in bogus fees to the Jordanian trucking firm Alia, which was part-owned by the Iraqi government.
The money was then allegedly diverted to Saddam Hussein.
The inquiry is at the request of the United Nations, which issued a report by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul A. Volcker in October 2005 that stated that AWB made the "side payments" in violation of U.N. sanctions.
Howard stated in the letter:
"The government cannot accept any Iraqi attempt to politicise our wheat trade or to pressure us into dropping our support for U.N. Security Council resolutions requiring international inspection of Iraq's (weapons) facilities.
In view of the importance of this matter, I suggest that the government and AWB Ltd. remain in close contact in order that we can jointly attempt to achieve a satisfactory outcome in the longer term."
After the letter was sent, Lindberg visited Iraq with officials from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
It is alleged that during that visit Lindberg agreed to pay Saddam's government US$2M in kickbacks, that were concealed in an inflated wheat contract.
Howard rejected the accusation that the government had known about the alleged kickbacks:
"We were in no way involved with the payment of bribes. We didn't condone them, we didn't have knowledge of them, but we did work closely with AWB."
"I would have been failing in my job as prime minister if I hadn't done everything I could to maintain and protect the wheat market because it was one of our best."
Kim Beazley, leader of the centre-left opposition Labor Party, said:
"Anything less (than a full enquiry) is a cover-up of what has been, to my mind, the worst piece of corruption I have seen in my 25 years as a federal politician at the federal level."
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Spreading The Guilt
Whilst Saddam Hussein stands trial, it is worth remembering that others had hand in keeping him in power.
Today it is reported that the German/American carmaker DaimlerChrysler has suspended at least six managers over allegations that they had bribed officials to obtain import licences for Iraq, under the United Nations Oil-for-Food programme.
The managers belonged to DaimlerChrysler Overseas. The suspension follows an investigation by the UN and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into the company.
Paul Volcker, the former US Federal Reserve Chairman, issued a report last year that alleged that companies, including Daimler, had made illicit payments to Saddam Hussein's regime.
The allegations relate to the sale of Mercedes vehicles, and spare parts to Iraq under the Oil-for-Food programme.
According to the Volcker report, Wolfgang Denk, an area manager at Daimler, agreed in 2001 to pay a DM13,000 kickback on a contract to sell an armoured van and submitted an inflated contract price to the UN.
Both Herr Denk, and Daimler told the Volcker committee that it did not knowingly pay a kickback.
The company said last year that it had identified suspect payments.
The investigations by the SEC and the US Department of Justice began in 2004, after a former employee filed a complaint. The employee, whom Daimler said had been dismissed for falsifying financial data, alleged that the company had kept secret bank accounts to bribe foreign officials.
Daimler has dismissed the accusation.
Let us see what comes of this.
Today it is reported that the German/American carmaker DaimlerChrysler has suspended at least six managers over allegations that they had bribed officials to obtain import licences for Iraq, under the United Nations Oil-for-Food programme.
The managers belonged to DaimlerChrysler Overseas. The suspension follows an investigation by the UN and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into the company.
Paul Volcker, the former US Federal Reserve Chairman, issued a report last year that alleged that companies, including Daimler, had made illicit payments to Saddam Hussein's regime.
The allegations relate to the sale of Mercedes vehicles, and spare parts to Iraq under the Oil-for-Food programme.
According to the Volcker report, Wolfgang Denk, an area manager at Daimler, agreed in 2001 to pay a DM13,000 kickback on a contract to sell an armoured van and submitted an inflated contract price to the UN.
Both Herr Denk, and Daimler told the Volcker committee that it did not knowingly pay a kickback.
The company said last year that it had identified suspect payments.
The investigations by the SEC and the US Department of Justice began in 2004, after a former employee filed a complaint. The employee, whom Daimler said had been dismissed for falsifying financial data, alleged that the company had kept secret bank accounts to bribe foreign officials.
Daimler has dismissed the accusation.
Let us see what comes of this.
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Heads Start To Roll
Whilst the world awaits the restart of Saddam Hussein's trial, others are now being judged and found guilty for associating with him.
Natwar Singh, India's foreign minister, was stripped of his post yesterday; over allegations that he benefited illegally from the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq.
He is the first head, of many I suspect, that will roll as a result of the fall out from the Volcker Report that revealed massive corruption in the effort to help Iraqis suffering under sanctions.
Volcker, has accused more than 2,200 companies and prominent politicians worldwide of colluding with Saddam Hussein's regime to milk the oil-for-food program of $1.8BN in kickbacks and illicit surcharges.
The oil-for-food program, theoretically, allowed Iraq to sell limited and then unlimited quantities of oil; as long as most of the money was used to buy humanitarian goods to help ordinary Iraqis cope with UN sanctions, imposed after Saddam's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
Needless to say, Saddam's government chose all the oil buyers and goods suppliers. A clear control risk, that the UN had they be competent/honest should have stopped.
India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, demoted Singh to minister without portfolio.
Singh and the ruling Congress party of India are alleged in the report to have benefited from the $64BN oil-for-food program, they are named as a "non-contractual beneficiary."
We can expect further high profile casualties in the coming weeks and months.
Benon Sevan, the program's executive director, is being investigated for allegedly accepting kickbacks.
French judges are investigating 10 French officials, including former UN ambassador Jean-Bernard Merimee, and business leaders under suspicion.
It seems to me that the UN was "naive" at best to think that this program would work, without the appropriate regulatory checks and balances. I turst that heads will roll there too.
Natwar Singh, India's foreign minister, was stripped of his post yesterday; over allegations that he benefited illegally from the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq.
He is the first head, of many I suspect, that will roll as a result of the fall out from the Volcker Report that revealed massive corruption in the effort to help Iraqis suffering under sanctions.
Volcker, has accused more than 2,200 companies and prominent politicians worldwide of colluding with Saddam Hussein's regime to milk the oil-for-food program of $1.8BN in kickbacks and illicit surcharges.
The oil-for-food program, theoretically, allowed Iraq to sell limited and then unlimited quantities of oil; as long as most of the money was used to buy humanitarian goods to help ordinary Iraqis cope with UN sanctions, imposed after Saddam's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
Needless to say, Saddam's government chose all the oil buyers and goods suppliers. A clear control risk, that the UN had they be competent/honest should have stopped.
India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, demoted Singh to minister without portfolio.
Singh and the ruling Congress party of India are alleged in the report to have benefited from the $64BN oil-for-food program, they are named as a "non-contractual beneficiary."
We can expect further high profile casualties in the coming weeks and months.
Benon Sevan, the program's executive director, is being investigated for allegedly accepting kickbacks.
French judges are investigating 10 French officials, including former UN ambassador Jean-Bernard Merimee, and business leaders under suspicion.
It seems to me that the UN was "naive" at best to think that this program would work, without the appropriate regulatory checks and balances. I turst that heads will roll there too.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Oil For Food Scandal
It seems that over 2000 international companies, and many well known politicians, had a hand in illegally supporting Saddam Hussein.
This is the conclusion of the final report on the UN oil-for-food programme.
The report runs to 623 pages, and exposes the global scam that allegedly involved such companies as DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.
The report shows that the $64BN programme was used by Saddam to prop up his regime, at the expense of his own people.
The UN and member countries of the UN are blamed for allowing this corruption to go unchecked for years.
Paul Volcker, a former US Federal Reserve chairman who led the investigation, said that the report underscored the urgent need to reform the United Nations.
Companies from Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, Belarus, Syria, Canada and many other places paid illegal kickbacks. Many businesses in the developing world made large payments to get humanitarian contracts.
The question is, will these people be standing trial with Saddam?
I won't be holding my breath.
This is the conclusion of the final report on the UN oil-for-food programme.
The report runs to 623 pages, and exposes the global scam that allegedly involved such companies as DaimlerChrysler and Siemens.
The report shows that the $64BN programme was used by Saddam to prop up his regime, at the expense of his own people.
The UN and member countries of the UN are blamed for allowing this corruption to go unchecked for years.
Paul Volcker, a former US Federal Reserve chairman who led the investigation, said that the report underscored the urgent need to reform the United Nations.
Companies from Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, Belarus, Syria, Canada and many other places paid illegal kickbacks. Many businesses in the developing world made large payments to get humanitarian contracts.
The question is, will these people be standing trial with Saddam?
I won't be holding my breath.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Thales Denies Arms Link
Thales SA, the French military electronics group, has denied allegations that it paid millions of dollars in bribes and sold chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein.
Michel Josserand, former chief executive of Thales Engineering and Consulting THEC, made the allegations.
He alleged that the paying of bribes by Thales was widespread, this of course violates French law and international conventions.
Quote:
"I estimate that Thales must pay out between 1 percent and 2 percent of its global revenue in illegal commissions,".
He also alleged that Thales had "sidestepped the (U.N.) Oil for Food Program and delivered chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein's government."
Josserand has alleged that Thales took part in the construction of an Iraqi chemical-weapons plant, disguised as a factory that made powdered milk.
Thales are currently being investigated by police.
Thales have denied the allegations.
Quote:
"The Thales Group formally denies accusations of corruption in France and internationally, lodged against it by a former manager at THEC".
Thales spokesman, Christophe Robin, said that the company also "categorically and totally" denied the allegations concerning.
Adding:
"We never broke the embargo. Thales does not produce chemical weapons. Thales completely denies these unfounded and dishonest allegations."
Thales then went on to say that it had "decided to take immediate legal action for defamation against the French daily newspaper Le Monde and Michel Josserand."
Adding:
"The group would like to point out that these allegations have been made by a former manager of this subsidiary, who was dismissed by the group for irregularities committed as part of a contract for the Nice tramway. Furthermore, the group itself lodged a complaint regarding corruption during this project."
Josserand believes that his life is now in danger.
He also noted that "Thales was only following the practices of the major U.S. companies".
Call me cynical, but the more "air time" given to Saddam Hussein in the form of a series of trials; the more likely other embarrassing allegations will come to the surface about Western companies and politicians, and their relationship with Saddam.
The pressure will surely be on the Iraqi government to hold just one short trial, and to pronounce and execute the death sentence.
Or am I being too cynical?
Michel Josserand, former chief executive of Thales Engineering and Consulting THEC, made the allegations.
He alleged that the paying of bribes by Thales was widespread, this of course violates French law and international conventions.
Quote:
"I estimate that Thales must pay out between 1 percent and 2 percent of its global revenue in illegal commissions,".
He also alleged that Thales had "sidestepped the (U.N.) Oil for Food Program and delivered chemical weapons to Saddam Hussein's government."
Josserand has alleged that Thales took part in the construction of an Iraqi chemical-weapons plant, disguised as a factory that made powdered milk.
Thales are currently being investigated by police.
Thales have denied the allegations.
Quote:
"The Thales Group formally denies accusations of corruption in France and internationally, lodged against it by a former manager at THEC".
Thales spokesman, Christophe Robin, said that the company also "categorically and totally" denied the allegations concerning.
Adding:
"We never broke the embargo. Thales does not produce chemical weapons. Thales completely denies these unfounded and dishonest allegations."
Thales then went on to say that it had "decided to take immediate legal action for defamation against the French daily newspaper Le Monde and Michel Josserand."
Adding:
"The group would like to point out that these allegations have been made by a former manager of this subsidiary, who was dismissed by the group for irregularities committed as part of a contract for the Nice tramway. Furthermore, the group itself lodged a complaint regarding corruption during this project."
Josserand believes that his life is now in danger.
He also noted that "Thales was only following the practices of the major U.S. companies".
Call me cynical, but the more "air time" given to Saddam Hussein in the form of a series of trials; the more likely other embarrassing allegations will come to the surface about Western companies and politicians, and their relationship with Saddam.
The pressure will surely be on the Iraqi government to hold just one short trial, and to pronounce and execute the death sentence.
Or am I being too cynical?
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