Oil for Food Is Just One of Many Scandals at U.N. With Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff March 30, 2004 Newsmax http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/3/30/94213.shtml UNITED NATIONS - The controversy over possible embezzlement of the former Iraq oil-for-food program is just the latest in a series of scandals at the U.N. in recent years, NewsMax correspondent Stewart Stogel notes. In the 1990s the world body was beset by embezzlements and theft in relief operations in Somalia and Cambodia. In the Somali capital of Mogadishu, a safe that contained more than $3 million in cash to run U.N. operations inexplicably disappeared from headquarters. Scotland Yard was called in to investigate. The culprits were never found. A senior U.N. official at the Mogadishu center suspected of involvement was never charged and later retired with full benefits. In U.N. operations in Cambodia, the Canadian air services company Skylink was accused of overbilling and kickbacks. The investigation launched by the U.N. never reached definitive conclusions, though Skylink did agree to a restructuring of its contract. More than $5 million on that contract could not be accounted for. Similar charges of overbilling and kickbacks have plagued U.N. operations in Kosovo and Bosnia. Since the attack on the U.N.'s operations center in Baghdad last August (23 killed and 150 wounded), Kofi Annan has launched not one but two investigations. The first, completed last October, called U.N. security dysfunctional and questioned the competence of several key U.N. officials, including Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette of Canada. The first investigation prompted Annan to launch a second, more involved inquiry. The so-called accountability panel turned in its findings March 1, six weeks late. Annan had refused to released any details of the panel's findings until yesterday, when he fired one top official and demoted another for http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/3/30/91406.shtml profound lack of responsibility and ineptitude in refusing to install blast-resistant protective window film, which could have prevented most of the casualties. Incompetents Paid for Doing Nothing Until yesterday, the only action taken by the U.N. chief had been to suspend (with pay) the two security officials. This coming after what the United Nations had called the worst attack on its personnel in history. Annan had refused repeated requests for a disclosure of the panel's findings by the U.N.'s staff union. The secretary-general had cited security concerns for his insistence on non-disclosure. Now come charges of embezzlement in the oil-for-food program, which the General Accounting Office of the U.S. Congress estimates could exceed $10 billion. Annan responded by forming yet another panel of inquiry. In a letter to the Security Council on Friday, the secretary-general outlined the form the panel will take. Though he proclaims the panel will be independent, Annan reserved the right as to which U.N. official would be available to testify and what punishment (if any) might be issued. It Runs in the Family One person who might be a target of the investigation is Annan's son Kojo, an employee of a U.N. contractor in the OIF program. Shortly after the contract was awarded, Annan left the organization. In another instance of unusual U.N. finances, Kofi Annan, whose estsimated annual salary of $225,000 is the highest among U.N. employees, has an unusual rider. Many U.N. employees who transfer to headquarters in New York City from overseas often receive what the organization calls a cost-of-living multiplier. The multiplier, a percentage of the base salary, is added to the employee's base pay, and is not usually taxed. Though the multiplier is intended to offset New York's high cost of living, it has also allowed some U.N. officials to pad their incomes. Primary Parasite In Annan's case, his official home and most of his living expenses are automatically picked up by the United Nations (in reality, by taxpayers). An investigation by NewsMax.com revealed that Annan received a cost-of-living multiplier that, according to U.N. documents, amounted to 51 percent of his gross annual salary. That means that the U.N. chief made more than $100,000 extra for personal living expenses, none of which the U.N. could detail. This comes as the United Nations finds itself under additional pressures to cut its staff and search for financing to renovate its aging headquarters. The so-called capital renovation plan is expected to cost more than $2 billion over the next five years. It is unclear how the United Nations intends to raise the cash.