U.N. Figure Threatens Retribution If His Legal Fees Are Not Paid
BY BENNY AVNI - Staff Reporter of the Sun
April 28, 2005

UNITED NATIONS - Benon Sevan, who once headed the United Nations' oil-for-food program, hinted in a recent letter to the U.N. chief of staff, Mark Malloch Brown, that he would consider retributions against the organization if it refused to reimburse the mounting legal fees he has incurred while attempting to fend off allegations related to the program.
The letter adds to growing tensions among lawyers, the United Nations, and a host of investigators who are investigating the scandals swirling around oil for food. Defense attorneys employed by oil-for-food players now include influential Washington lawyers known for taking on high-profile cases - and demanding fat fees.
Indeed, two former law partners, both of whom served on President Clinton's defense team during the 1990s impeachment hearings, may soon be pitted against one another: Gregory Craig and Lanny Davis. Mr. Davis now represents a former Volcker committee investigator, Robert Parton, who resigned citing principal differences with others on the team. The disagreements led to the Volcker team softening its conclusions about Secretary-General Annan, who is represented by Mr. Craig.
The April 10 letter to Mr. Malloch Brown was penned by Mr. Sevan's somewhat lower-profile lawyer, Eric Lewis. Mr. Lewis demanded that the United Nations reconsider its prior decision not to reimburse the legal fees incurred by Mr. Sevan as result of oil-for-food accusations.
We want to do this in a confidential manner but under certain circumstances, we might have to reconsider, the letter said, according to a senior U.N. official who spoke to The New York Sun on condition of anonymity. Mr. Lewis implied in his letter that Mr. Sevan could go public with the circumstances surrounding the initial promise by the United Nations to cover Mr. Sevan's legal fees - and the organization's subsequent about-face. Mr. Sevan's knowledge of the program might include potentially damaging information about several U.N. officials.
After the Sun reported last month the decision to reimburse Mr. Sevan's legal fees with funds left over from the oil-for-food account, Mr. Malloch Brown announced the decision would be reversed. That decision by the secretary general has not changed, a U.N. spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, told the Sun yesterday. The U.N. will not pay Mr. Sevan's fees.
Mr. Lewis did not return phone calls to his office yesterday.
Separately, several congressional sources confirmed to the Sun yesterday that Mr. Parton has retained Mr. Davis as his attorney.
Mr. Parton has said he had resigned from the Volcker committee over disagreements on investigative procedures. After Mr. Parton's resignation, Paul Volcker told Fox News on Tuesday that There should not be and has not been any question as to whether the report itself reviewed all the investigative leads.
Mr. Parton might soon be called to testify before some of the eight congressional committees investigating the oil-for-food scandal. This could lead to legal complications, as IIC members have signed certain confidentiality agreements.
The circumstances surrounding the recent resignation of Mr. Parton and his colleague, Miranda Duncan, from the IIC, are a matter of great concern to the chairman, said a staffer at the office of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California, who heads the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. The staffer added, however, that no decision has been made yet on whether to call Mr. Parton or Ms. Duncan to testify.
The congressional committee begins a separate oil-for-food hearing today on the role of BNP Paribas, the French based bank with a New York branch that was hired by the United Nations and Saddam Hussein to handle the escrow account where most of the proceeds from Iraq's oil sales were deposited. BNP is represented by yet another onetime Clinton lawyer, Robert Bennett.
Mr. Davis, a partner in the law firm Orrick, Herrington,& Sutcliffe, told the Sun yesterday that for the time being, Mr. Parton is trying to avoid commenting on his resignation or on the work of the Volcker committee.
Mr. Craig, of Williams and Connolly, was the White House legal adviser during Mr. Clinton's impeachment hearings. A U.N. spokesman, Fred Eckhard, told the Sun that Mr. Craig offered his services to Mr. Annan as a friend and for is working on a pro-bono basis. No U.N. funds would be used to pay his services, the spokesman said.