The New York Post
December 8, 2004 Wednesday
U.N. SLICKSTER EYED IN LAUNDER SCHEME
by NILES LATHEM Post Correspondent
WASHINGTON – Congressional investigators are examining whether the
former head of the U.N. oil-for-food program laundered profits from
shady oil deals with Saddam Hussein through family businesses in
Cyprus to make it look as if his newfound wealth was coming from an
“inheritance.”
A spokesman for the House International Relations Committee told The
Post yesterday the panel is investigating new information that
ex-oil-for-food chief Benon Sevan concocted an elaborate scheme to
hide profits he received from sweetheart oil deals by diverting money
to family members in his native Cyprus.
“The information we received is that he diverted the money [from the
deals] to family members in Cyprus,” the spokesman said.
“We have been informed that it was set up so that if he were to be
put in a room and asked where his money came from, he would say it
came from inheritance from his grandmother or an aunt.”
The committee is now searching for a money trail through banks in
several countries, the spokesman said. Sevan hasn’t been questioned
by the congressional probers.
Sevan, an Armenian Cypriot, is a career U.N. bureaucrat at the center
of the burgeoning oil-for-food scandal, which has thrown the world
body into a crisis and threatens to topple Secretary-General Kofi
Annan.
Sevan, who owns homes in Manhattan and the Hamptons, is alleged to
have made millions in profits through a scheme in which Saddam
granted vouchers that allowed recipients to buy Iraqi oil at
below-market prices and resell it on the open market at profits of up
to 50 cents a barrel.
In one series of trades, revealed in Iraqi Oil Ministry documents
earlier this year, Sevan earned $1.2 million through nine oil
allocations from 1998 to 2003 through Africa Middle East Petroleum, a
mysterious Panamanian-based company headed by a nephew of former U.N.
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
A report by CIA weapons inspector Charles Duelfer in October said
Sevan received allocations from several other companies, including
one based in Cyprus.
Duelfer also reported that an Egyptian middleman associated with
Africa Middle East Petroleum would travel to Baghdad and sign
documents on Sevan’s behalf and pick up the oil vouchers.
Former Iraqi Vice President Taha Ramadan personally oversaw the deals
involving Sevan, Duelfer reported.
Sevan eventually was cut off from the oil gravy train because Saddam
was not satisfied he was doing enough for him and was angered that
Sevan’s companies were not paying kickbacks to his regime,
investigators said.
Sevan has repeatedly denied he took oil bribes from Saddam.
He remains at the United Nations under a $1-a-year arrangement so he
can cooperate with the independent commission headed by former
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker.
Sources said Sevan’s oil dealings with Saddam are an early priority
for Volcker, along with the relationship between Annan’s son, Kojo,
and a Swiss company that won a lucrative oil-for-food contract.
Volcker is expected to issue a preliminary report on his probe to
Annan and congressional committees next month.
Sevan is considered a close associate of Annan and Boutros-Ghali, who
was ousted from the United Nations in 1996 under pressure from the
Clinton administration.
Well-oiled plan
How Benon Sevan allegedly cashed in:
* Sevan, a close associate of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, was
appointed in 1996 to run the oil-for-food program.
* Iraqi documents reveal that he started getting oil vouchers from
Saddam Hussein in 1998.
* Sevan received nine oil allocations totaling 13.3 million barrels
from 1998-2003, the documents show.
* Iraqi files reveal that Sevan directed vouchers to go through the
Africa Middle East Petroleum Corp.
* Congress is probing information that profits from Africa Middle
East Petroleum were diverted to bank accounts and businesses
controlled by Sevan’s family in Cyprus.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress