Indictments Are New Stage In Oil for Food
By Benny Avni
January 17, 2007
The New York Sun
Original Source: http://www.nysun.com/article/46833
UNITED NATIONS — A close relative of a former secretary-general, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the Geneva-based businessman Ephraim Nadler, was indicted yesterday by New York and federal authorities on charges related to the oil-for-food scandal, along with the program's director, Benon Sevan.
The indictments represent a new stage in an ongoing criminal probe in which 14 Turtle Bay officials and business associates have already been charged, convicted, or pleaded guilty, as prosecutors work to bring to justice those involved in the largest corruption scandal in Turtle Bay's history.
However, it was not clear yesterday whether the two alleged coconspirators, who have stayed away from America since the Paul Volcker committee detailed their alleged wrongdoings in mid-2005, would even bother to put up a defense.
Mr. Sevan's lawyer, Eric Lewis, told The New York Sun yesterday that his client has little confidence in the American justice system. Mr. Nadler is an Egyptian-born Jewish businessman whose sister, Leia, is Mr. Boutros-Ghali's wife. Mr. Volcker's investigation did not indicate that the former secretary-general has directly benefited from illicit gains in the oil-for-food program. Nevertheless, in the Volcker investigation as well as in a related federal trial recently, Mr. Boutros-Ghali was described as targeted for bribery by agents for Saddam's Iraq.
Along with the Cypriote Mr. Sevan, Mr. Nadler was accused yesterday of bribery and wire fraud-related charges, as well as of violating rules of an organization — the United Nations — which is largely financed by America.
The indictment accuses Mr. Nadler of helping a third, unnamed co-conspirator to obtain the right to buy Iraqi oil under the U.N.-run humanitarian program in exchange for commissions from the oil sales. Mr. Nadler then allegedly funneled approximately $160,000 of these oil commissions to Mr. Sevan.
Mr. Sevan is the highest-ranking U.N. official indicted so far in the U.N. corruption trials. In 2005, he left New York for Nicosia, Cyprus. While in the past it had no solid extradition agreements with America, Cyprus is currently a member of the European Union, a fact that may make extradition easier.
I don't think Mr. Sevan has made a final decision yet on whether to face trial, Mr. Lewis told the Sun. Arguing that his client has been used as scapegoat to cover up America's own financials misdeeds in Iraq, Mr. Lewis added, I don't think this experience has given him a lot of confidence in the impartiality and lack of politicization in the American justice system.
While Mr. Sevan was accused of agreeing to cooperate with Mr. Volcker's committee only after adverse findings against him became clear, Mr. Nadler has refused to cooperate with the U.N.-led investigation right from the start, according to Mr. Volcker.
It was not clear yesterday whether Mr. Nadler even obtained legal representation to face the new criminal charges. Although the indictment refers to him as an American, and though he has an East Side apartment, he is believed to be holed-up in Geneva.
The federal authorities asked Interpol to locate and attain Messrs. Nadler and Sevan and will seek their arrest and extradition to the United States, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michael Garcia, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the indictment demanded the two forfeit nearly $145 million. American assets of the defendants — such as Mr. Nadler's East 60th Street apartment and a house owned by Mr. Sevan in the Hamptons town of East Quogue — may also be subject to forfeiture, according to the indictment.
In a rare move, Mr. Garcia's federal office shared the limelight yesterday with the District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau. The U.S. Attorney's office and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office have joined forces to uncover and prosecute any corruption or other illegal activities connected to that program, Mr. Morgenthau said.
It is my hope that during his tenure, Secretary General Ban Kimoon will demand higher standards of integrity from the people who serve the United Nations, the ranking member of the House Foreign Relation Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican of Florida, said in a statement.
A spokesman for Mr. Ban, Farhan Haq, said the United Nations has been cooperating with oil for food investigations, and will continue to do so. However, he noted that the organization couldn't touch Mr. Sevan's pension fund.
Adding the Mr. Sevan's nearly 40-year Turtle Bay tenure, and his final rank of undersecretary-general before leaving in 2005, one source familiar with the U.N. pension system — which, unlike other U.N.compensations, is subject to American taxing and laws — estimated Mr. Sevan's pension assets to be worth around $1 million.