U.N. Official Under Investigation Resigns
By NICK WADHAMS
The Associated Press
Wednesday, June 22, 2005; 7:10 PM
UNITED NATIONS -- A senior U.N. purchasing official under investigation in the oil-for-food probe resigned after allegations that he helped his son get a job with a company that did business with the United Nations, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
Shortly after he submitted his resignation Tuesday night, Alexander Yakovlev's office was sealed at the request of the Independent Inquiry Committee, which is probing claims of fraud in the oil-for-food program.
Yakovlev, 52, worked in the procurement department, which oversees the awarding of U.N. contracts. He was accused of helping his son get a job with IHC Services, a New York-based company that describes itself as a supplier of branded product and services providing a diverse range of high-quality capital equipment.
Yakovlev said in his resignation letter that he was stepping down both because of the allegations and because he wanted to protect the integrity, reputation and the interest of the organization, U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.
Yakovlev was thrust into the public eye in February when he was mentioned in a report by the Independent Inquiry Committee, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker.
Volcker spokesman Mike Holtzman said Yakovlev was still under investigation in the oil-for-food probe and that the request to seal his office was unrelated to the conflict-of-interest claims against him. Okabe said IIC investigators plan to inspect the office.
There was no evidence that IHC did business under oil-for-food, the $67 billion operation aimed at helping ordinary Iraqis suffering under U.N. sanctions imposed after Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. It has become the target of several corruption probes since the Iraqi leader was ousted.
The inquiry committee has largely portrayed Yakovlev as an employee who played strictly by the rules despite strong political pressure. Some of his testimony was used as evidence against a colleague named Joseph Stephanides, who was fired June 1 by the U.N. for manipulating contracts under oil-for-food.
The United Nations received the allegations of a conflict of interest last week, and the U.N. investigative arm, the Office of Internal Oversight Services, is conducting its own inquiry. Okabe said the probe will continue and Yakovlev has promised to cooperate.
© 2005 The Associated Press