US: A US federal prosecutor investigating corruption in the $64 billion oil-for-food programme has issued the case's first criminal charges against a United Nations official. The former Russian procurement officer is accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from companies doing business with the UN.
Alexander Yakovlev (52) has pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, said David N Kelley, US attorney for the southern district of New York. If convicted, Mr Yakovlev could face up to 60 years in prison.
The case against the Russian grew out of the UN's own investigation of its marred oil-for-food programme, and came on a day when a UN-appointed panel accused the programme's former director Benon V Sevan of receiving almost $150,000 in kickbacks from a company run by relatives of former UN secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
The criminal charges represented a turning point in the UN scandal, which until now had yielded no public evidence that UN officials had broken any laws.
Even so, the allegations of corruption had damaged UN secretary general Kofi Annan's standing and shaken confidence in the organisation.
Monday's events also signalled that UN investigators have expanded their inquiries beyond the oil programme to include allegations of corruption in other parts of the UN.
Former federal reserve chairman Paul A Volcker, who is leading the UN investigation, said Mr Yakovlev tried to solicit bribes from a Swiss company that was bidding for business in the oil programme. Mr Volcker also alleged that Mr Yakovlev received more than $950,000 in an offshore bank account from contractors doing other types of business with the UN.
A senior UN official said Mr Annan on Monday waived Mr Yakovlev's diplomatic immunity from prosecution and was prepared to do the same in the case of Mr Sevan.
In a document outlining charges, Mr Kelley's office said Mr Yakovlev had faxed privileged bidding information in 1996 to a company pursuing business through the oil programme.
He was also charged with creating a front company, Moxyco Ltd, "to facilitate the illicit and secret payment of money to him by foreign companies" trying to do business with the UN.
Mr Yakovlev was released from custody on Monday on a $400,000 bond and is restricted from travel.- (LA Times-Washington Post service)