| Top companies implicated in oil-for-food scam |
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The Volcker report, which is looking into alleged irregularities in the United Nations oil-for-food programme, has named DaimlerChrysler, Siemens and Volvo among 2,200 companies, which paid kickbacks for lucrative contracts during Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.
The final report into the scandal alleges that a total of $1.8 billion was paid in illegal kickbacks to Saddam's government. It also says that many politicians also greased their fingers in the $64-billion program.
Paul Volcker, a former US Federal Reserve chairman has led the independent UN investigation into the matter and he said that the UN failed in its responsibilities, “The UN secretariat, the Security Council and UN contractors failed most grievously in their responsibilities," he said.
The report also cites that Wolfgang Denk, an area manager at DaimlerChrysler promised to cede 10 percent kickbacks in a deal to sell armored vans to Iraq. “DaimlerChrysler did not disclose this agreement or any documents in response to the committee’s request,” the report noted.
Texas-based Bayoil and Coastal Corp., and Russia's oil companies Gazprom and Lukoil as well as South Korea's Daewoo International have also been implicated in the report. The 623-page document has exposed the true nature of what was apparently the world's biggest humanitarian aid operation that ran from 1996-2003.
It allowed Iraq to sell limited and then unlimited quantities of oil on the condition that the money earned was utilized for the purchase of humanitarian goods. But Saddam Hussein soon turned the operation on its head by demanding and getting kickbacks for contracts.
The Volcker report had held U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, his deputy and the Security Council responsible for the mess that the program found itself in.
Posted
on : Sat, 29 Oct 2005 05:40 GMT | General News
By : Salim Patel
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