Gold9472
03-28-2005, 09:11 PM
NBC: Annan, son face rebuke in oil-for-food report
‘Charge letter’ questions judgment of U.N. chief, clears him of wrongdoing
NBC News and news services
Updated: 7:35 p.m. ET March 28, 2005
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his son Kojo have both received warning letters that a report to be issued Tuesday related to the oil-for-food program scandal will find against them on specific issues, NBC News has learned. The so-called “charge letters” were delivered to both Annans last week.
In the letter to the secretary-general, Paul Volcker, the former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman appointed by Annan to investigate corruption in the program, finds that Kofi Annan showed poor judgment in failing to fully investigate charges of conflict of interest involving Kojo Annan when the accusations first appeared in a British newspaper in 1999.
The secretary-general asked one of his undersecretaries to investigate but did not start an outside inquiry himself, according to the letter.^^
Volcker's letter informs Kofi Annan that he will be cleared in the report of any personal wrongdoing.
Volcker’s interim report is expected to focus on whether the secretary-general influenced the bidding process in the U.N.-administered program, which ran from 1996 to 2003.
U.N. sources tell NBC News that the secretary-general has already written a letter to Volcker acknowledging that he should have been more rigorous in investigating the actions of his son.
Son’s problems more daunting
The accusations against Kojo Annan are more serious and, lawyers tell NBC, could have legal ramifications. There are several grand juries looking into the issue.
Volcker has notified Kojo Annan that the commission has found that he deliberately disguised the payments he received from a Swiss firm, Cotecna, that had the oil-for-food contract. The Iraq oil-for-food program was administered by the world body during Saddam Hussein's regime.
U.S. officials have been told by the investigators that Kojo Annan got close to $400,000 from Cotecna Inspection, the company he represented as it sought a program contract, the official said. The commission also blames Kojo for misleading his father.
The secretary-general, his son and Cotecna all deny any link between Kojo Annan’s employment and the awarding of the U.N. contract to the company.
Kojo Annan worked as a consultant in West Africa for Cotecna, which received a lucrative contract from the United Nations for Iraq in early 1999.
Kojo Annan had told his father he no longer worked for the firm in 1999. But he did not at first reveal that he continued to earn $2,500 a month from them from 1999 until February 2004 in return for not joining their competitors in West Africa.
The Bush administration previously said the only possible conclusion is that the secretary-general deliberately ignored his son's conflict of interest, a senior U.S. official told NBC News. The official was briefed on the report but has not seen it.
related story
Report: No proof of manipulation
The report is expected to conclude there is no evidence Kofi Annan rigged the U.N.'s procurement system or exerted undue influence over contractors or ever sought financial benefits, reported the Wall Street Journal, quoting people familiar with report's conclusions.
Annan's new chief of staff, Mark Malloch Brown, has told reporters that, while Kojo had admitted that “he misled his father,” the secretary-general felt he would “be exonerated of any wrongdoing.”
A spokesman for Cotecna told Reuters that the Volcker inquiry had requested information on Kojo Annan's earnings and they had hired an auditor to trace all payments made to him.
Legacy of Saddam era
Under the oil-for-food program, which handled some $67 billion, Iraq was allowed to sell oil to buy civilian goods in order to ease the impact of 1990 sanctions on ordinary Iraqis.
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's government siphoned nearly $2 billion in kickbacks from companies conducting business under the program, according to a U.S. report.
In anticipation of Volcker's report, Annan recently shook up his top staff. But last week his new chief of staff had to defend a decision to have the United Nations pay at least $300,000 in legal fees of the fired U.N. official who had run the oil-for-food program.
The Bush administration has argued the United Nations is rife with bureaucracy and needs to be reformed, but feels Annan is too weak to carry out significant changes. But it's also been unable to find enough allies to confront Annan directly.
NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell and Reuters contributed to this report.
‘Charge letter’ questions judgment of U.N. chief, clears him of wrongdoing
NBC News and news services
Updated: 7:35 p.m. ET March 28, 2005
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his son Kojo have both received warning letters that a report to be issued Tuesday related to the oil-for-food program scandal will find against them on specific issues, NBC News has learned. The so-called “charge letters” were delivered to both Annans last week.
In the letter to the secretary-general, Paul Volcker, the former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman appointed by Annan to investigate corruption in the program, finds that Kofi Annan showed poor judgment in failing to fully investigate charges of conflict of interest involving Kojo Annan when the accusations first appeared in a British newspaper in 1999.
The secretary-general asked one of his undersecretaries to investigate but did not start an outside inquiry himself, according to the letter.^^
Volcker's letter informs Kofi Annan that he will be cleared in the report of any personal wrongdoing.
Volcker’s interim report is expected to focus on whether the secretary-general influenced the bidding process in the U.N.-administered program, which ran from 1996 to 2003.
U.N. sources tell NBC News that the secretary-general has already written a letter to Volcker acknowledging that he should have been more rigorous in investigating the actions of his son.
Son’s problems more daunting
The accusations against Kojo Annan are more serious and, lawyers tell NBC, could have legal ramifications. There are several grand juries looking into the issue.
Volcker has notified Kojo Annan that the commission has found that he deliberately disguised the payments he received from a Swiss firm, Cotecna, that had the oil-for-food contract. The Iraq oil-for-food program was administered by the world body during Saddam Hussein's regime.
U.S. officials have been told by the investigators that Kojo Annan got close to $400,000 from Cotecna Inspection, the company he represented as it sought a program contract, the official said. The commission also blames Kojo for misleading his father.
The secretary-general, his son and Cotecna all deny any link between Kojo Annan’s employment and the awarding of the U.N. contract to the company.
Kojo Annan worked as a consultant in West Africa for Cotecna, which received a lucrative contract from the United Nations for Iraq in early 1999.
Kojo Annan had told his father he no longer worked for the firm in 1999. But he did not at first reveal that he continued to earn $2,500 a month from them from 1999 until February 2004 in return for not joining their competitors in West Africa.
The Bush administration previously said the only possible conclusion is that the secretary-general deliberately ignored his son's conflict of interest, a senior U.S. official told NBC News. The official was briefed on the report but has not seen it.
related story
Report: No proof of manipulation
The report is expected to conclude there is no evidence Kofi Annan rigged the U.N.'s procurement system or exerted undue influence over contractors or ever sought financial benefits, reported the Wall Street Journal, quoting people familiar with report's conclusions.
Annan's new chief of staff, Mark Malloch Brown, has told reporters that, while Kojo had admitted that “he misled his father,” the secretary-general felt he would “be exonerated of any wrongdoing.”
A spokesman for Cotecna told Reuters that the Volcker inquiry had requested information on Kojo Annan's earnings and they had hired an auditor to trace all payments made to him.
Legacy of Saddam era
Under the oil-for-food program, which handled some $67 billion, Iraq was allowed to sell oil to buy civilian goods in order to ease the impact of 1990 sanctions on ordinary Iraqis.
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's government siphoned nearly $2 billion in kickbacks from companies conducting business under the program, according to a U.S. report.
In anticipation of Volcker's report, Annan recently shook up his top staff. But last week his new chief of staff had to defend a decision to have the United Nations pay at least $300,000 in legal fees of the fired U.N. official who had run the oil-for-food program.
The Bush administration has argued the United Nations is rife with bureaucracy and needs to be reformed, but feels Annan is too weak to carry out significant changes. But it's also been unable to find enough allies to confront Annan directly.
NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell and Reuters contributed to this report.