View source for Oil-for-Food Programme

{{short description|Programme headed by the United Nations}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox organization
| image         =UN Emblem "Oil-for-Food".jpg
| image_size    = 200px
| name         = Oil-for-Food Programme
| map        = 
| map_caption      = 
| type         = 
| abbreviation     = OIP, OFFP
| leader_title  = Head
| leader_name         = [[Benon Sevan]]
| status       = Dissolved in 2003
| formation  = 1995
| website      = {{URL|https://www.un.org/Depts/oip}}
| parent_organization       = [[United Nations Secretariat]]
| subsidiaries = 
| commons      = 
| footnotes    = 
}}
The '''Oil-for-Food Programme''' ('''OIP''') was established by the [[United Nations]] in 1995 (under [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]] [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 986|Resolution 986]])<ref name="UN_SRES9861995">{{UN document |docid=S-RES-986(1995) |type=Resolution |body=Security Council |year=1995 |resolution_number=986 |accessdate=2008-04-09|date=14 April 1995}}</ref> to allow [[Iraq]] to sell [[Petroleum|oil]] on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi citizens without allowing Iraq to boost its military capabilities.

The programme was introduced by United States President [[Bill Clinton]]'s [[Clinton Administration|administration]] in 1995,<ref>Traub, James. "Off Target." ''New Republic'' 232.6 (21 February 2005): 14–17. ''Academic Search Premier''. Web. 12 December 2011.</ref> as a response to arguments that ordinary Iraqi citizens were inordinately affected by the international [[economic sanctions]] aimed at the [[Demilitarized zone|demilitarisation]] of [[Saddam Hussein]]'s Iraq, imposed in the wake of the first [[Gulf War]]. The sanctions were discontinued on 21 November 2003 after the [[2003 invasion of Iraq|U.S. invasion of Iraq]], and the humanitarian functions turned over to the [[Coalition Provisional Authority]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/oip/ |title=UN Office of the Iraq Program – Oil-for-Food |publisher=United Nations |access-date=7 December 2011}}</ref>

The programme was ''de facto'' terminated in 2003 and ''de jure'' terminated in 2010. Although the sanctions were effective, there were revelations of widespread corruption in the programme and abuse of its funds.

==Background and design==
The Oil-for-Food Programme was instituted to relieve the extended suffering of civilians as the result of the United Nations' imposition of [[UN Resolution 661|comprehensive sanctions on Iraq]] following Iraq's invasion of [[Kuwait]] in August 1990. [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 706|Security Council Resolution 706]] of 15 August 1991 was introduced to allow the sale of Iraqi oil in exchange for food.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.undemocracy.com/S-RES-706(1991).pdf|title=Security Council Resolution 706(1991)|date=15 August 1991|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325053606/http://www.undemocracy.com/S-RES-706(1991).pdf|archive-date=25 March 2009}}</ref>

[[United Nations Security Council Resolution 712|Security Council Resolution 712]] of 19 September 1991 confirmed that Iraq could sell up to US$1.6 billion in oil to fund an Oil-For-Food Programme.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.undemocracy.com/S-RES-712(1991).pdf|title=Security Council Resolution 712(1991)|date=19 September 1991|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325053601/http://www.undemocracy.com/S-RES-712(1991).pdf|archive-date=25 March 2009}}</ref> After an initial refusal, Iraq signed a [[memorandum of understanding]] (MOU) in May 1996 for arrangements to be taken to implement that resolution.

The Oil-for-Food Programme started in December 1996, and the first shipments of food arrived in March 1997. Sixty percent of Iraq's twenty-six million people were solely dependent on rations from the oil-for-food plan.

The programme used an [[escrow]] system. Oil exported from Iraq was paid for by the recipient into an escrow account possessed until 2001 by [[BNP Paribas]] bank, rather than to the Iraqi government. The money was then apportioned to pay for [[war reparations]] to [[Kuwait]], ongoing coalition and United Nations operations within Iraq. The remainder, the majority of the revenue, was available to the Iraqi government to purchase regulated items.

The Iraqi government was permitted to purchase only items that were not [[embargo]]ed under the economic sanctions.  Certain items, such as raw foodstuffs, were expedited for immediate shipment, but requests for most items, including simple things such as [[pencil]]s and [[folic acid]], were reviewed in a process that typically took six months before shipment was authorized. Items deemed to have any potential application in chemical, biological or nuclear weapons systems development were not available to the regime, regardless of stated purpose.

==Financial statistics==
Over US$54 billion worth of [[Iraq]]i oil was sold on the world market. About US$46 billion of this was intended to provide for the [[Humanitarianism|humanitarian]] needs of the Iraqi people such as food and [[medicine]], given the context of international [[economic sanctions]]. A considerable portion was spent on [[Gulf War]] reparations paid through a compensation fund (25% starting December 2000). UN administrative and operational costs for the programme was US$1.2 billion; the cost of the [[United Nations Special Commission on Iraq|weapons inspection programme]] was also paid from these funds. Internal audits have not been made public.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/05/03/un.oil.for.food.letter | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040507024513/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/05/03/un.oil.for.food.letter/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=7 May 2004 | publisher=CNN| title=U.N. defends oil-for-food letter | date=3 May 2004 | access-date=2010-05-20}}</ref>

==End of the programme==

{{quote box
|align=right
|width=33%
|quote=The bad news, therefore, is that the UN proved unequal to the task of preventing a rogue regime from stealing some of its own money. The good news is that this same UN machinery proved equal to the task of preventing that same regime from fielding WMD, developing nuclear weapons and reconstituting a military threat to its neighbours. Most observers would conclude that the UN, however inadequate its financial oversight, certainly got its priorities right.
 
The UN sanctions regime against Iraq, including the Oil for Food program, is worth close scrutiny not because it was a scandal, although scandal there was, but because taken as a whole, it is the most successful use of international sanctions on record. Documenting the why and wherefores of that success is as important as correcting the shortfalls that allowed a rogue regime, in connivance with unscrupulous international businessmen, to siphon funds from UN-administered Iraqi accounts.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dobbins|first1=James|title=A Comparative Evaluation of United Nations Peacekeeping|date=11 June 2007 |url=http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/CT284.html|publisher=RAND Corp.|access-date=12 February 2015}}</ref>
|source=–Testimony on ''A Comparative Evaluation of United Nations Peacekeeping'' by [[James Dobbins (diplomat)|James Dobbins]] presented before the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs in 2007
}}

Shortly before US-led [[Multi-National Force – Iraq|Coalition forces]] launched an [[2003 invasion of Iraq|invasion of Iraq]], [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|UN Secretary-General]] [[Kofi Annan]] suspended the programme and evacuated more than 300 workers monitoring the distribution of supplies.

On 28 March 2003, Annan, the United States, and Britain asked the [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]] to ensure that nearly US$10 billion in goods Iraq had ordered and that were already approved—including US$2.4 billion for food—could enter the country once conditions allowed. The resolution under discussion made clear that the chief responsibility for addressing humanitarian consequences of the war would fall to the United States and Britain if they took control of the country. Under the 1949 [[Fourth Geneva Convention]] these are the responsibilities of the occupying power.

On 22 May 2003, [[UN Security Council Resolution 1483]] granted authority to the [[Coalition Provisional Authority]] to use Iraq's oil revenue. The programme's remaining funds, $10 billion, were transferred over a six-month winding-up period to the [[Development Fund for Iraq]] under the Coalition Provisional Authority's control; this represented 14% of the programme's total income over 5 years.

The programme was formally terminated on 21 November 2003 and its major functions were turned over to the [[Coalition Provisional Authority]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/Depts/oip |title=UN Office of the Iraq Program – Oil-for-Food |publisher=United Nations |access-date=7 December 2011}}</ref>

==Abuse==
The programme also suffered from widespread [[political corruption|corruption]] and abuse. Throughout its existence, the programme was dogged by accusations that some of its profits were unlawfully diverted to the government of Iraq and to UN officials. These accusations were made in many countries, including the US and Norway.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20060822-104216-5171r.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060824020811/http://www.washtimes.com/upi/20060822-104216-5171r.htm|url-status=dead|title=This story is no longer available – Washington Times|archive-date=24 August 2006|website=The Washington Times}}</ref>

Until 2001, the money for the Oil-for-Food Programme went through [[BNP Paribas]], whose main private share-holder is Iraqi-born [[Nadhmi Auchi]], a man whose estimated worth is about $1 billion according to ''Forbes'' estimates, the 13th-richest man in Britain according to ''[[The Guardian]]''. Auchi received a 15-month suspended sentence for his involvement in the [[Elf Aquitaine#Fraud scandal (1994)|Elf scandal]], which the British newspaper called "the biggest fraud inquiry in Europe since the Second World War", saying "Elf became a private bank for its executives who spent £200 million on political favours, mistresses, jewellery, fine art, villas and apartments".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1086487,00.html ''The Guardian'' on Nadhmi Auchi] (see also [[Clearstream]] scandal)</ref> Elf, an oil company, merged with [[Total S.A.|TotalFina]] to become [[Total S.A.]] in 2003.

=== Misapplication of funding ===
According to information from [[Aqila al-Hashimi]], who was senior bureaucrat with the Oil-for-Food Programme in Iraq, of the programme's total of $60 billion, "roughly 65% was actually applied to aid".<ref>[[Samantha Nutt]]. M.D. "Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Arms and Aid". McLelland & Stewart Ltd. Toronto. Canada, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-7710-5145-6}}. Page 147</ref> Over 193 so-called electrical consultants each received $15,000 per month while the electricity only worked a few hours at a time.<ref>Samantha Nutt, MD. ''Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Arms and Aid''. McLelland & Stewart Ltd. Toronto. Canada, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-7710-5145-6}}. p. 148</ref>

[[Benon Sevan]] of [[Cyprus]], who headed the programme, defended it, claiming that it had only a 2.2% administrative cost and that it was subject to more than 100 internal and external [[audit]]s. He blamed [[Security Council]] restrictions for making the situation difficult and said that 90 percent of Iraq's population relied on the programme for its monthly food basket. Sevan stonewalled efforts to review and investigate the programme.<ref>{{cite news| url-status=dead|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48225-2004Nov13?language=printer|title=Oil-for-Food Official May Have Blocked Inquiries  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120918040608/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48225-2004Nov13?language=printer |archive-date=2012-09-18 | newspaper=The Washington Post | access-date=2010-05-20 | first=Colum | last=Lynch}}</ref> He ordered his staff to enforce a policy that complaints about illegal payoffs should be formally filed with the [[whistleblower]]'s country, making them public and allowing Iraq to bar any whistleblowers. In 2000, [[Dileep Nair]], the UN corruption watchdog, wanted to determine the programme's level of vulnerability. Sevan and UN Deputy Secretary-General [[Louise Frechette]], rejected any such investigation, claiming that it would be too expensive to be worthwhile. UN Chef de Cabinet [[Iqbal Riza]] ordered the shredding of years' worth of documents in his office concerning the programme. He said that they were from a working file that contained copies of documents received by his office, and were purged due to lack of space, and also that the originals were held elsewhere.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,176362,00.html | publisher=Fox News | title=New U.N. Scheme: Alliance of Civilizations | date=22 November 2005 | access-date=18 April 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221194057/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,176362,00.html | archive-date=21 February 2007 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In response to these criticisms, and to evidence acquired after the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], accusations were made that skimmed profits were being used to buy influence at the UN and with [[Kofi Annan]] himself. An investigation cleared Annan of any personal wrongdoing.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/IIC%20Final%20Report%2027Oct2005.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823070841/http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/IIC%20Final%20Report%2027Oct2005.pdf |title=Manipulation Of The Oil-For-Food Programme By The Iraqi Regime |archive-date=2013-08-23 |date=2013-08-23 |access-date=2019-07-17}}</ref>

=== Adulterated foods ===
According to an interim report released on 3 February 2005 by former Federal Reserve chairman [[Paul Volcker]]'s commission (see [[#Investigations|Investigations]] below), much of the food aid supplied under the programme "was unfit for human consumption". The report concluded that Sevan had accepted nearly $150,000 in bribes over the course of the programme, and in 2005 he was suspended from his position at the United Nations as a result of the fraud investigation.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4131602.stm | work=BBC News | title=Oil-for-food chief 'took bribes' | date=8 August 2005 | access-date=2010-05-20}}</ref>

===''Al Mada'' list===
One of the earliest allegations of wrongdoing in the programme surfaced on 25 January 2004, when ''[[al Mada]]'', a daily newspaper in Iraq, published a list of individuals and organizations alleged to have received oil sales contracts via the UN's Oil-for-Food Programme. The list came from over 15,000 documents which were reportedly found in the state-owned Iraqi oil corporation, the [[Iraq National Oil Company]], which had close links to the [[Iraqi Oil Ministry]].

Named in the list of beneficiaries were [[George Galloway]], then a British [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP), and his charity, the [[Mariam Appeal]]; former French [[Minister of the Interior (France)|Interior Minister]] [[Charles Pasqua]]; [[Shaker al-Kaffaji]], an Iraqi-American businessman; Indian Foreign Minister [[Natwar Singh]], and Bheem Singh. Many prominent Russian firms and individuals were also included on the ''al Mada'' list. Even the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] was supposedly involved in illegal oil trading.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Arnone |first1=Marco |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FyOeAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA186 |title=Corruption: Economic Analysis and International Law |last2=Borlini |first2=Leonardo S. |date=2014-05-30 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-78100-613-9 |pages=186 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Corruption Watch: February 16, 2004 |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1342334.html |access-date=2022-08-30 |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=11 November 2008 |language=en |quote=According to the "[[Vremya novostei]]" interview with "Al-Mada" Editor Karim, an unspecified company connected to the Russian Orthodox Church received two donations of oil, one in the amount of 3 million barrels, the second of 10.2 million barrels. The dates of those purported transactions were not provided. (It is worth noting that this combined total does not jibe with the figure of 5 million barrels allegedly given to the Russian Orthodox Church that was published in "Al-Mada" on 25 January.) / Russian Orthodox Church delegations visited Baghdad often, and one such delegation delivered a message of support for the Hussein regime from the head of the church, [[Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow|Metropolitan Aleksii II]]. The metropolitan, it should be noted, had issued a number of statements supporting Hussein over the years.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Oil-for-food aided Russians, report says |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7857167 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529083653/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7857167 |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 May 2022 |access-date=2022-08-30 |website=NBC News |date=16 May 2005 |language=en}}</ref> The former assistant to the [[Cardinal Secretary of State|Vatican secretary of state]], Reverend [[Jean-Marie Benjamin]], is said to have received the rights to sell {{convert|4.5|Moilbbl|m3}}. George Galloway subsequently won two [[libel]] actions against the ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'' and ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'', which had reported the allegations.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3549679.stm | work=BBC News | title=Galloway accepts libel damages | date=19 March 2004 | access-date=2010-05-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Washington |first=The |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20040422-114353-8420r.htm |title=World leaders on list of oil recipients |work=The Washington Times|date=22 April 2004 |access-date=7 December 2011}}</ref>

The president of [[Oilexco]] Ltd, Arthur Millholland, whose name also appeared on the ''al Mada'' list, denied wrongdoing but confirmed that illegal surcharges were being paid to the Iraqi government by contractors.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040423/ROIL23/TPBusiness/TopStories |location=Toronto |url-status=dead 
|title=Executive says UN oil-for-food program was rife with corruption |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040515230419/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040423/ROIL23/TPBusiness/TopStories |archive-date=15 May 2004 }}</ref> Few deny{{Ww|date=January 2025}} that in Iraq, like in many third-world countries, bribes and [[Kickback (bribery)|kickbacks]] were regularly paid to the leadership in order to get contracts; however, the ''al Mada'' list does not discuss bribes paid to Iraq – it discusses bribes paid to individuals to support Iraq.

===Operation of the scheme===
The scheme is alleged to have worked in this way: individuals and organizations sympathetic to the Iraqi regime, or those just easily bribed, were offered oil contracts through the Oil-for-Food Programme. These contracts for Iraqi oil could then be sold on the open world market and the seller was allowed to keep a transaction fee, said to be between $0.15 and $0.50/barrel (0.94 and 3.14 $/m<sup>3</sup>) of oil sold. The seller was then to refund the Iraqi government a certain percentage of the commission.

Contracts to sell Iraq humanitarian goods through the Oil-for-Food Programme were given to companies and individuals based on their willingness to kick back a certain percentage of the contract profits to the Iraqi regime. Companies that sold commodities via the Oil-for-Food Programme were overcharging by up to 10%, with part of the overcharged amount being diverted into private bank accounts for Saddam Hussein and other regime officials and the other part being kept by the supplier.

The involvement of the UN itself in the scandal began in February 2004 after the name of [[Benon Sevan]], executive director of the Oil-for-Food Programme, appeared on the Iraqi Oil Ministry's documents. Sevan received vouchers for at least 11,000,000 barrels (1,700,000 m<sup>3</sup>) of oil, worth some $3.5 million in profit. Sevan denied the charges.

===BNP Paribas===
The sole bank handling funds transfers for the Oil-for-Food Programme was the New York branch of the Banque Nationale de Paris-Paribas, or [[BNP Paribas]]. This French bank was the sole bank administering the $64 billion UN programme. An investigation by the [[United States House Committee on International Relations|US House Committee on International Relations]] found that BNP Paribas made payments for goods without proof of delivery and allowed payments to third parties not identified as authorized recipients. Investigators estimate that the bank received more than $700 million in fees under the UN programme, which began in 1996 and ended after the ouster of Saddam in March 2003.

===Duelfer Report===
The [[Iraq Survey Group]], which was tasked with finding evidence of [[weapons of mass destruction]] in Iraq, found that OFF saved the Iraqi economy from decline after the imposition of sanctions. Furthermore, the Iraqi regime found that it could corrupt OFF to get [[hard currency]] that could be used to manipulate the Iraq Sanctions Committee and undermine sanctions as well as to obtain more weapons.<ref>Duelfer, vol. 1, ch. "Regime Strategic Intent", p. 1.</ref>

The final official version of the Iraq Survey Group report, known as the Duelfer Report, cited only France, Russia and China (countries who were also strongly anti-war) as violators who paid kickbacks.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}} According to the report, the top three recipients of oil included Russia (30%), France (15%), and China (10%), which are all members of the UN Security Council.<ref>Duelfer, vol. 1, ch. "Regime Finance and Procurement", p. 31.</ref> The US received 2–3% of the oil.<ref name=otterman>{{cite web|last=Otterman|first=Sharon|title=IRAQ: Oil for Food Scandal|url=http://www.cfr.org/un/iraq-oil-food-scandal/p7631|work=Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=2 November 2011|date=28 October 2005|archive-date=3 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203221649/http://www.cfr.org/un/iraq-oil-food-scandal/p7631|url-status=dead}}</ref> US recipients included [[ExxonMobil]], [[ChevronTexaco Corp.]] and the [[El Paso Corp.]]<ref name=bravin2004>{{cite news|last=Bravin|first=Jess|title=Iraq Oil-for-Food Probe Hits U.S. --- Exxon, Chevron and El Paso Are Named in CIA Report on Hussein-Era Program|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=11 October 2004|author2=John D. McKinnon|author3=Russell Gold|location=New York}}</ref>{{verify source|date=November 2011}} The list of US companies was originally censored by CIA lawyers, citing privacy issues,<ref name=lane2004>{{cite news|last=Lane|first=Charles|title=Privacy Act, Order Shielded U.S. Names on List|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16201-2004Oct7.html|access-date=2 November 2011|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=8 October 2004|author-link=Charles Lane (journalist) |page=A30}}</ref> but was later leaked.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Nationality of<br />recipients !! Oil received<br />(% of total volume)
|-
|{{flag|Russia}}
|30
|-
|{{flag|France}}
|15
|-
|{{flag|China}}
|10
|-
|{{flag|Switzerland}}
|6
|-
|{{flag|Malaysia}}
|5
|-
|{{flag|Syria}}
|6
|-
|{{flag|Jordan}}
|4
|-
|{{flag|Egypt}}
|4
|-
|Other (inc. US)
|20
|}

On 5 June 2007, the German chapter of the anti-corruption organisation [[Transparency International]] (TI) lodged a complaint with the German [[Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy]] (BMWi) against 57 German companies for allegedly paying $11.9m in kickbacks in the United Nations' Oil for Food Programme in Iraq.

===Oil coupons as bribes===
The US-funded satellite network [[Alhurra|Al Hurra]] broadcast a story on 6 January 2005 detailing allegations that Saddam's regime had bribed news reporters with oil coupons. Reporters named include [[Ahmed Mansour (journalist)|Ahmed Mansour]] of [[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]] and {{Interlanguage link|Hamida Na'na|fr}}, a writer based in France known for her pro-Saddam positions. Two types of oil coupons were used: silver coupons that entitled holders to nine million barrels of oil, and gold coupons worth more.{{vague|date=June 2016}} Hamida Naanaa is said{{who|date=June 2016}} to have received a gold coupon.<ref>[http://townhall.com/opinion/columns/guestcolumns/2005/05/17/15444.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051006111454/http://townhall.com/opinion/columns/guestcolumns/2005/05/17/15444.html|date=6 October 2005}}</ref>

===Ingersoll-Rand pays $2.5m in fines for kickbacks===

In October 2007,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2007/lr20353.htm 
|title=Litigation Release No. 20353: SEC v. Ingersoll-Rand Company Ltd., Civil Action No. 107- CV- 01995 (D.D.C.) 
|publisher=US Securities and Exchange Commission 
|date=31 October 2007 
|access-date=7 December 2011
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web
|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2007/October/07_crm_872.html 
|title=Ingersoll-Rand Agrees to Pay $2.5 Million Fine in Connection with Payment of Kickbacks Under the U.N. Oil for Food Program 
|publisher=US Department of Justice 
|date=31 October 2007 
|access-date=7 December 2011
}}</ref> the SEC brought a case against [[Ingersoll-Rand]] alleging kickbacks by three different subsidiaries to Iraqi Government officials. Ingersoll-Rand's German subsidiary [[Ingersoll-Rand ABG|ABG]], subsidiary I-R Italiana and the Irish subsidiary [[Thermo King]] paid "after-sales service fees" (ASSFs), although no bona fide services were performed. Ingersoll-Rand, without admitting or denying the allegations in the commission's complaint, consented to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining it from future violations of Sections 13(b)(2)(A) and 13(b)(2)(B) of the [[Securities Exchange Act of 1934]], ordering it to disgorge $1,710,034 in profits, plus $560,953 in pre-judgment interest, and to pay a civil penalty of $1,950,000. Ingersoll-Rand was also ordered to comply with certain undertakings regarding its compliance program for the [[Foreign Corrupt Practices Act]], and to pay a $2,500,000 fine pursuant to a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Fraud Section.

===Complaints by Kurds===
The [[Kurds|Iraqi Kurds]] complained since the programme began that they were not being paid their fair share of the oil revenues. According to the guidelines set up by the Oil-for-Food Programme, the revenues were to be divided up in such a way as to protect Iraq's predominantly [[Iraqi Kurdistan|Kurdish regions]]. The allegations include claims that the [[Cairo]] office of the UN's [[World Health Organization]], run by an individual{{who|date=June 2016}} alleged to have received oil sales contracts, managed to stall the building of a new general hospital for the Kurdish city of [[Sulaymaniya]], even though the funds for the project had been available since 1998.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

===Potential Annan link===
On 14 June 2005, two 1998 memos surfaced that appeared to link [[Kofi Annan]] to Cotecna Inspection S.A. The first one described a meeting between Annan and Cotecna while the company was bidding on the programme, after which the company raised its bid. A second one mentioned that Cotecna was confident that they would get the bid due to "effective but quiet [[lobbying]]" in New York diplomatic circles. The source of the documents was a Cotecna executive.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

The Second Interim Report by the IIC confirmed that Cotecna won the Oil for Food contract fairly and based on merit. The Committee concluded that there was no link between Kofi Annan and the award of Cotecna's contract, and Cotecna has been transparent and cooperative through this investigation.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

===Alleged involvement of Russian intelligence===
According to high-ranking Russian [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|SVR]] defector [[Sergei Tretyakov (intelligence officer)|Sergei Tretyakov]], the Oil-for-Food Programme was sabotaged by an undercover Russian intelligence officer, Alexander Kramar, a UN employee who set up the artificially low oil prices in 1998 to allow Saddam to use the oil vouchers as lucrative bribes. The difference between the market price and the price defined by Kramar was pocketed by people who received the vouchers from Saddam. Among the bribed were top officials from Russia, France, and China.<ref name="Comrade J">Pete Earley, "Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War", Penguin Books, 2007, {{ISBN|978-0-399-15439-3}}, pages 210–223.</ref> The biggest part of vouchers (to buy {{convert|1366|Goilbbl|m3}} of oil) went to forty-six individuals or organizations in Russia, including the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].{{citation needed|date=June 2016}} They pocketed $476 million.<ref name="Comrade J"/> Among Russians who received the money were [[Alexander Voloshin]] and [[Vladimir Zhirinovsky]]. Sergei Isakov, a friend of Voloshin, carried "bags with money" from Moscow to Baghdad taking the "earned" money as kickbacks to Saddam.<ref name="Comrade J"/>

===Alleged use for financing of Saddam Hussein regime===
[[Fox News]] broke the story that [[Alexander Yakovlev (diplomat)|Alexander Yakovlev]], a Russian official in the UN Procurement Department, was involved; he later resigned and pleaded guilty to corruption charges. The program was also linked to Ahmed Idris Nasreddin, designated as a terrorist financier by Britain, the US and according to the UN "belonging to or affiliated with [[Al-Qaeda|Al Qaeda]]." Nasreddin was removed from these lists in 2007 after he demonstrated that he had severed all business ties with [[Youssef Nada]], who co-founded the [[Al Taqwa Bank]] with him, and pledged to have no further dealings with either Nada or the bank.<ref>
{{cite web 
|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-28-na-financier28-story.html
|title=When is a terrorism figure no longer one?: In 2002, the U.S. said a businessman was aiding Al Qaeda. Now he's quietly off the blacklist 
|author=Josh Meyer 
|website=Los Angeles Times
|date=28 November 2007
|access-date=6 June 2016
}}
</ref> Petra Navigation Group was a company that was on the blacklist of firms blocked from doing business with the U.S. for sanctions-busting activities designed to help Saddam's regime.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,173039,00.html | publisher=Fox News | title=U.N. Procurement Scandal: Ties to Saddam and Al Qaeda | date=21 October 2005 | access-date=28 March 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427081238/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,173039,00.html | archive-date=27 April 2006 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

According to some sources, Saddam provided millions of dollars from the Oil-for-Food program to the [[Mujahedin-e-Khalq]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The United States and Iran: Policy Challenges and Opportunities|author=Jalil Roshandel, Alethia H. Cook|page=78|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=Amir Moosavi, Narges Bajoghli|title=Debating the Iran-Iraq War in Contemporary Iran|date=18 December 2019 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8vrDDwAAQBAJ&dq=oil-for-food+program+Mujahedin+e-Khalq&pg=PT172|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|isbn=9781351050579 }}</ref>

===Oil for wheat===
{{Main|AWB oil-for-wheat scandal}}A report by UN investigator [[Paul Volcker]] released in October 2005 found that the [[AWB Limited|Australian Wheat Board]], later [[AWB Limited]], was the biggest single source of kickbacks for the Iraqi government. In exchange for trouble-free disembarkation of wheat purchased under the Oil-for-Food Programme, the Australian Wheat Board paid 'trucking charges' totalling A$300 million to Alia. Alia is a real Jordanian trucking company, but one with no role in the distribution of Australian wheat in Iraq. Alia kept a small percentage of 'charges', and passed the remainder on to Saddam's government. The AWB was fully compensated for the charges by increases in the price paid; the payments were approved by the Australian [[Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)|Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade]]. The Australian Government commissioned judge [[Terence Cole (jurist)|Terence Cole]] to further investigate whether Australian companies had indeed paid kickbacks to the Saddam regime. The [[Cole Inquiry]] commenced in December 2005.

The [[Cole Inquiry]] has received testimony from senior Australian Government officials, including Prime Minister [[John Howard]], Deputy Prime Minister [[Mark Vaile]], Foreign Minister [[Alexander Downer]] and various officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. During the course of the inquiry numerous AWB officials have resigned, including managing director [[Andrew Lindberg]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1139470741101B223 |title=IOL: News for South Africa and the World |access-date=9 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060103072147/http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1 |archive-date=3 January 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/31346F10-8C19-458D-8DC9-8C45C850FA7A.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220094439/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/31346F10-8C19-458D-8DC9-8C45C850FA7A.htm|url-status=dead|title=Wheat chief quits over Iraq bribe|archive-date=20 February 2006|website=aljazeera.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,17233506,00.html|title=Archived copy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527081247/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0%2C5942%2C17233506%2C00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 May 2007 }}
</ref><ref>[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17158436%5E7583,00.html]{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} 
</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17131459%5E2702,00.html|title=DFAT 'approved' Iraq wheat deals|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051105094111/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0%2C5744%2C17131459%255E2702%2C00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 November 2005|author=Patricia Karvelas|date=4 November 2005 }}
</ref> In 2009, the Australian Federal Police ended the investigation related to the scandal.<ref>
{{cite news 
|first=Caroline 
|last=Overington
|author-link=Caroline Overington 
|newspaper=The Australian
|publisher=News Limited|title=Federal police drop AWB investigation 
|date=29 August 2009
|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/latest/federal-police-drop-awb-investigation/news-story/ea331c86b1975dd25e86f594b3b9a8d1
}}
</ref>

==Investigations==

===GAO investigation===
After the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] and subsequent [[Multi-National Force – Iraq|Coalition]] victory over the [[Iraqi Army]], the US [[Government Accountability Office]] (GAO) was given the task of finalizing all Oil-for-Food-related supply contracts made with the now-defunct regime and of tracking down the personal fortunes of former regime members.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04651t.pdf |title= Observations on the Oil for Food Program |date=2004 |website=gao.gov |access-date=2020-04-04}}</ref> During the execution of this task, the GAO found weaknesses in the programme that allowed kickbacks and other sources of wealth for Saddam Hussein. The GAO estimates that the Saddam Hussein regime generated $10.1 billion in illegal revenues. This figure includes $5.7 billion from oil smuggling and $4.4 billion in illicit surcharges on oil sales and after-sales charges on suppliers. The scale of the fraud was far more extensive than the GAO had previously estimated. A [[United States Department of Defense|U.S. Department of Defense]] study, cited by the GAO, evaluated 759 contracts administered through the Oil-for-Food Programme and found that nearly half had been overpriced, by an average of 21 percent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04579thigh.pdf |title=Preliminary Observations on U.S. Efforts and Challenges |date=18 March 2004 |website=gao.gov |access-date=2020-04-04 |archive-date=16 April 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050416114012/http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04579thigh.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Unlike the 661 committee, members of the Security Council had the authority to launch investigations into contracts and to stop any contract they did not like. The British and the Americans had turned down hundreds of Oil-for-Food contract requests, but these were blocked primarily on the grounds that the items being imported were dual-use technologies.

To quote the GAO report, in its summary:

: Both the UN Secretary-General, through the Office of the Iraqi Programme (OIP) and the Security Council, through its sanctions committee for Iraq, were responsible for overseeing the Oil-for-Food Programme. However, the Iraqi government negotiated contracts directly with purchasers of Iraqi oil and suppliers of commodities, which may have been one important factor that allowed Iraq to levy illegal surcharges and commissions.

Joseph A. Christoff, director of international affairs and trade at the General Accounting Office, told a House hearing that UN auditors had refused to release the internal audits of the Oil-for-Food Programme.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://washingtontimes.com/world/20040429-120918-1334r.htm |title=GAO denied access to oil-for-food audits |work=The Washington Times|date=29 April 2004 |access-date=7 December 2011}}</ref> [[Benon Sevan]], with support from [[Kofi Annan]], had written letters to all former Oil-for-Food contractors asking them to consult Sevan before releasing any documents to GAO or US congressional inquiry panels.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/US/05/03/un.oil.for.food.letter/ | publisher=CNN| title=U.N. defends oil-for-food letter | date=3 May 2004 | access-date=2010-05-20}}</ref> Throughout its history, the programme had received both complaints from critics saying that it needed to be more open and complaints from companies about proprietary information being disclosed.

The United Nations has denied all requests by the GAO for access to confidential internal audits of the Oil-for-Food Programme.

While attempting to determine the complexity of the Oil-for-Food Programme for articles in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', [[investigative journalist]] [[Claudia Rosett]] of the [http://www.defenddemocracy.org Foundation for the Defence of Democracies] and the [[Hudson Institute]] discovered that the UN treated details such as the identities of Oil-for-Food contractors; the price, quantity and quality of goods involved in the relief deals; and the identities of the oil buyers and the precise quantities that they received as confidential. The bank statements, the interest paid, and the transactions were all secret as well.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://reform.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Rosett%20Testimony--%20(cleaned%20up%20version).pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=5 May 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040512103249/http://reform.house.gov/UploadedFiles/Rosett%20Testimony--%20%28cleaned%20up%20version%29.pdf |archive-date=12 May 2004 }}</ref> Rosett has come under harsh criticism from [[Denis Halliday]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0403/19/i_dl.01.html|title=Archived copy  |publisher=CNN|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070311042257/http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0403/19/i_dl.01.html |archive-date=11 March 2007 }}</ref> and [[Benon Sevan]],<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0305/04/i_dl.01.html | publisher=CNN| access-date=2010-05-20 | title=Breaking News}}</ref> who have claimed that many of Rosett's claims (such as Oil-for-Food funding the approval of an Olympic stadium, and where responsibility for various issues lay according to the UN resolutions) were incorrect.

The US House Committee on International Relations investigated the Oil-for-Food Programme and discovered that money was provided by [[Sabah Yassen]], the former Iraqi ambassador to Jordan, to pay the families of [[List of Palestinian suicide attacks|Palestinian suicide bombers]] between $15,000 to $25,000. From September 2000 until the invasion of Iraq, the families of Palestinians killed or wounded in the conflict with Israel (including 117 responsible for suicide bombings in Israel) received over $35 million. It is alleged that this money came from the UN Oil-for-Food Programme.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/saddams-suicide-bomb-funds/|title=Saddam's Suicide Bomb Funds|last=Grace|first=Francie|date=2019-11-17|publisher=CBS News|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-10}}</ref>

===Independent Inquiry Committee===
After initial opposition to an investigation, UN Secretary-General [[Kofi Annan]] stated on 19 March 2004 that a full independent investigation would be launched. In an official press interview, Annan said "[...] it is highly possible that there has been quite a lot of wrongdoing, but we need to investigate [...] and see who was responsible." [https://web.archive.org/web/20120204084900/http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/pressconference/so040319.rm?start= "00:00:03"]. (<small>''audio clip, @5:56''</small>) However, Annan was emphatic that most of the claims were "outrageous and exaggerated",<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/28/iraq.un.oil.reut/]{{dead link|date=May 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} </ref> and that most of the criticisms had to do with things over which the programme had no authority.

The following individuals were chosen in April 2004 to head the United Nations' ''[[Paul Volcker Committee|Independent Inquiry Committee]]'':<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iic-offp.org/index.html |title=Independent Inquiry Committee into The United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme |publisher=Iic-offp.org |access-date=7 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111112080317/http://www.iic-offp.org/index.html |archive-date=12 November 2011 }}</ref>
*[[Paul Volcker]], former United States [[Federal Reserve System]] chairman and director of the [[United Nations Association of the United States of America]];
*[[Mark Pieth]] of Switzerland, an expert on money-laundering in the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] (OECD); and
*[[Richard Goldstone]] of South Africa, former Prosecutor of the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] (ICTY) and the [[International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda]] (ICTR).

On 22 April 2004, the [[United Nations Security Council]] passed a unanimous resolution endorsing the Volcker inquiry into [[political corruption|corruption]] in the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme for Iraq, calling upon all 191 member states to cooperate.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/22/international/middleeast/22CND-NATI.html | work=The New York Times | title=Corruption Allegations at U.N. Put Annan on the Defensive | first=Warren | last=Hoge | date=22 April 2004}}</ref>

The definitive<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.iic-offp.org/story07Sept05.htm|date=7 September 2005|title=Independent Inquiry Committee finds mismanagement and failure of oversight|publisher=United Nations|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612181108/http://www.iic-offp.org/story07Sept05.htm|archive-date=12 June 2007}}</ref> report was presented by Paul Volcker to the Security Council on 7 September 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.undemocracy.com/securitycouncil/meeting_5256/#pg002-bk08|title=Security Council Meeting 5256|date=7 September 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211015115/http://www.undemocracy.com/securitycouncil/meeting_5256/#pg002-bk08|archive-date=11 December 2008}}</ref>

A leaked internal UN audit, which surfaced on mineweb.com, shows massive discrepancies between Cotecna reports and UN agency reports for the value of the shipments into northern Iraq. The audit found that Cotecna did no "value" inspections on nearly US$1 billion worth of aid shipments for the Inter-Agency Humanitarian Programme into northern Iraq. However, in a subsequent report published by the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) (27 October 2005) it was concluded that "there were no major complaints by the United Nations or its member states about Cotecna's performance"<ref>Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme – [http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/IIC%20Final%20Report%2027Oct2005.pdf (27 October 2005)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823070841/http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/IIC%20Final%20Report%2027Oct2005.pdf |date=23 August 2013 }} p. 474</ref> and that "the audit did not report any deficiencies in Cotecna's inspections".<ref name="27 October 2005">Independent Inquiry Committee into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme – [http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/IIC%20Final%20Report%2027Oct2005.pdf (27 October 2005)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823070841/http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/IIC%20Final%20Report%2027Oct2005.pdf |date=23 August 2013 }} p. 475</ref> [[Benon Sevan]] was briefed in December 2002 on the findings of the audit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://washingtontimes.com/world/20040520-121412-9548r.htm |title=U.N. auditors fault oil-for-food monitor |work=The Washington Times|date=20 May 2004 |access-date=7 December 2011}}</ref>

The audit is available here.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/un_oilforfood_audit.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050416114022/http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/un_oilforfood_audit.pdf |archive-date=16 Apr 2005 |access-date=2023-09-14 |title=Audit |publisher=Fox News}}</ref> Its summary states:

:OIOS' overall conclusion is that the management of the Contract has not been adequate and certain provisions of the Contract had not been adhered to. In addition, the incorporation of additional costs, such as rehabilitation of camps in the man-day-rate was an unacceptable arrangement. Also, the contract had been amended prior to its commencement, which was inappropriate. OIP needs to strengthen its management of contracts and the Procurement Division (PD) should ensure that the basis of payment is appropriate in order to avoid additional costs to the Organization

After reading the leaked audit, congressman [[Henry Hyde]] wrote to Kofi Annan wondering why "The U.S. Congress – which provides 22 percent of the U.N.'s budget and which has publicly requested copies of the 55 internal audits – should be required to depend on media leaks for source documents."

====Interim report results====
In a 219-page initial report, the Volcker Commission documented how OIF chairman [[Benon Sevan]] used his position to solicit and receive allocations of oil from Iraq during the years he oversaw the humanitarian relief programme. Internal records from SOMO (Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization), as well as interviews with former Iraqi officials involved in illicit oil deals, show that Sevan had requested and received allocations of {{convert|7.3|Moilbbl|m3}} of oil on behalf of a Panama-registered trading company called African Middle East Petroleum Co.

Although the report makes no specific allegations of criminal activity by Sevan, Volcker does not rule out the possibility that charges might be filed by authorities in countries with relevant jurisdiction. The report called Sevan's conduct "ethically improper", noting that Sevan had received large cash payments totalling $160,000 each year he had headed the programme. Sevan claims the money came from an aunt in Cyprus who has since died, but the panel found no evidence to back this claim.

Volcker also reported in January that a review of 58 confidential UN internal OIF audits showed UN officials ignored early signs that humanitarian goods shipped to Iraq before the 2003 Invasion war were given little if any inspections by the Swiss company Cotecna. However, Volker concluded on 27 October 2005 IIC report that "the audit did not report any deficiencies in Cotecna's inspections".<ref name="27 October 2005"/> Cotecna paid [[Kojo Annan]], Kofi Annan's son, consulting fees until November 2003. Volcker said that future reports would deal with questions regarding Kojo Annan.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/InterimReportFeb2005.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2006-06-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204002604/http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/InterimReportFeb2005.pdf |archive-date=4 February 2005 }}</ref>

===Investigations by Iraqi Governing Council===
International accounting firm [[KPMG]] had been selected by the Iraqi Governing Council to investigate the ''al Mada claims'', along with [[Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer]]. It was due to release its findings to the [[Iraqi Governing Council]] in May 2004. However, in June 2004, KPMG stopped working on the project because it was owed money by the IGC.<ref>{{cite web |last=Marshall |first=Josh |url=http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/003120.php |title=3120 |publisher=Talking Points Memo |date=4 July 2004 |access-date=7 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204142650/http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/003120.php |archive-date=4 February 2012 }}</ref>

The US has been harshly critical of the KPMG probe led by associates of [[Ahmed Chalabi]], accusing it of undermining the main probe established by [[Paul Bremer]]. That probe had been run by the head of Iraq's independent Board of Supreme Audit, Ehsan Karim, with assistance from [[Ernst & Young]]. The Board of Supreme Audit is within the Iraqi Finance Ministry. In June 2004, Karim's investigation agreed to share information with the Volcker panel. However, on 1 July 2004, Karim was killed by a bomb magnetically attached to his car.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3855803.stm | work=BBC News | title=Attack on Iraq ministry official | date=1 July 2004 | access-date=2010-05-20}}</ref>

Claude Hankes-Drielsma, a British national and long-time friend of Ahmed Chalabi, was appointed by the IGC to coordinate its investigation of the Oil-for-Food Programme. Drielsma testified in front of the US Congress (on 21 April 2004) that the KPMG investigation "is expected to demonstrate the clear link between those countries which were quite ready to support Saddam Hussein's regime for their own financial benefit, at the expense of the Iraqi people, and those that opposed the strict application of sanctions and the overthrow of Saddam". He also testified that Chalabi was in charge of the investigation for the IGC.

In late May 2004, on the same day that Chalabi's offices at the Iraqi National Congress were raided by coalition forces, Drielsma claimed that an individual or individuals hacked into his computer and deleted every file associated with his investigation. He also claimed that "a back-up databank" was also deleted.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/06/06/wirq06.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/06/06/ixworld.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051130113436/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/06/06/wirq06.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/06/06/ixworld.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 November 2005|title=Iraqi judge orders arrest of American aide to Chalabi|date=6 June 2004|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|access-date=2010-05-20}}</ref> When asked by Claudia Rosett if he had been physically threatened as well, Drielsma replied with "no comment". Drielsma has also been an outspoken critic of the UN's refusal to release any internal Oil-for-Food audit information to the IGC.

===Criminal investigation in France===
The French criminal justice system is investigating the alleged involvement of two former officials from the [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)|French Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], Jean-Bernard Mérimée and Serge Boidevaix. The two are accused of having used their extensive network of connections in the Arab world in order to commit "influence peddling" and "corruption of foreign public agents". They have been put under formal criminal investigation by [[investigating magistrate]] [[Philippe Courroye]], a famous specialist in cases of corruption and other financial dealings. Both men had retired at the time of the alleged crimes and acted in their personal capacity, not as official envoys of the French government; however, Boidevaix claims that he kept the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed of his actions in Iraq. The Ministry claims to have warned both men formally in 2001 (during the administration of [[Lionel Jospin]]).

Some other people, including [[Bernard Guillet]], an aide to French senator [[Charles Pasqua]], are also under formal investigation. Guillet and Pasqua deny any wrongdoing.

===US Senate investigations===
[[United States Senate|US Senator]] [[Norm Coleman]] called for [[Kofi Annan]] to resign over the scandal and held [[Oil-for-Food Program Hearings|a number of hearings]] on the matter. The most spectacular of these hearings occurred after the subcommittee released a report that accused (then) British [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) [[George Galloway]], Russian politician [[Vladimir Zhirinovsky]], and former French Interior Minister [[Charles Pasqua]] of receiving oil allocations from Iraq in return for being political allies of [[Saddam Hussein]]'s regime. Galloway, in an unusual appearance of a British MP before a US Senate subcommittee, responded angrily to the allegations against him in a [[George Galloway#Senate hearing (17 May 2005)|confrontational public hearing]] which drew much media attention in both America and Britain.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4557369.stm |title=Media react to blistering hearing |work=BBC News |date=17 May 2005 |access-date=7 December 2011}}</ref> Galloway denied the allegations.

It is estimated that as much as $10 billion to $21.3 billion went unaccounted for and/or was directed to Saddam Hussein and his government in the form of kickbacks and oil smuggling. Record keeping of illegal behaviour is hard to come by and rare at best. To date, only 1 of 54 internal UN audits of the Oil-for-Food Programme has been made public. The UN has refused all requests for its audits.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

[[Warren Hoge]] alleged that the American government was aware of the scandal and chose to not prevent the smuggling because their allies Turkey and Jordan benefited from the majority of the smuggled oil. US Senator [[Carl Levin]] (D-[[Michigan]]) is quoted in an interview for the ''New York Times'' as saying, "There is no question that the bulk of the illicit oil revenues came from the open sale of Iraqi oil to Jordan and to Turkey, and that that was a way of going around the Oil-for-Food Programme [and that] we were fully aware of the bypass and looked the other way."<ref>{{cite web|last=Hoge |first=Warren |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050424/news_1n24annan.html |title=U.S. pegged for leaky Iraq oil sanctions |work=The San Diego Union-Tribune |date=24 April 2005 |access-date=7 December 2011}}</ref>

===Indictments===

On 6 January 2006, [[South Korea]]n businessman [[Tongsun Park]] was arrested by the FBI in [[Houston]] after he was indicted for illegally accepting millions of dollars from Iraq in the UN Oil-for-Food Programme. The criminal charges against him were unsealed in a U.S. District Court in Manhattan.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna10741998 | title=Korean arrested on oil-for-food scandal charges | publisher=NBC News | date=6 January 2006}}</ref>

After an investigation by the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]'s New York Field Office, on 16 January 2007, [[Benon Sevan]] was indicted by prosecutors from the Southern District of New York for taking about $160,000 in bribes.<ref>{{cite news|title=United States Attorney – Southern District of New York – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: U.S. INDICTS FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF UNITED NATIONS OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAM, AND UNITED STATES BUSINESSMAN|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/January07/sevanindictmentpr.pdf|publisher=[[United States Department of Justice|U.S. Department of Justice]]|date=16 January 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607090912/http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/January07/sevanindictmentpr.pdf|archive-date=7 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Attorney General Mukasey Recognizes Department Employees and Others for Their Service at Annual Awards Ceremony|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/October/08-opa-954.html|publisher=[[United States Department of Justice|DOJ]]|date=28 October 2008}}</ref> [[Michael J. Garcia]], the [[United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York|U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York]], issued a warrant through [[Interpol (organization)|Interpol]] for the arrest of Sevan at his home in Cyprus, as well as a warrant for Efraim "Fred" Nadler, a New York businessman who was indicted on charges of channelling the illegal payments to Sevan. Nadler's whereabouts are unknown.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/16/AR2007011600706.html | title=Former U.N. Oil-for-Food Chief Indicted | newspaper=The Washington Post | author=Colum Lynch | date=17 January 2007}}</ref>

===Daimler AG Kickbacks Case===
{{Main|Daimler AG#Bribery and corruption}}
On 1 April 2010, [[Daimler AG]] [[pleaded guilty]] to bribery charges brought by the [[U.S. Department of Justice]] and the [[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]] and will pay $185 million (US) as settlement, but remains subject to a two-year deferred prosecution agreement and oversight by an independent monitor.  The German automaker of [[Mercedes-Benz]] vehicles was accused of violating the terms of the United Nations' Oil for Food Program with Iraq by including [[bribery|kickback]]s 10 percent of the contract values to the Iraqi government.  The SEC said the company earned more than $4 million from the sale of vehicles and spare parts.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6303WY20100401 | work=Reuters | title=U.S. judge OKs settlement in Daimler bribery case | date=1 April 2010}}</ref>

The SEC case was sparked in 2004 after David Bazzetta, a former [[auditor]] at then DaimlerChrysler Corp, filed a [[whistle-blower]] complaint after he was fired for raising questions about [[bank account]]s controlled by Mercedes-Benz units in South America.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704896104575139891186752682 | work=The Wall Street Journal | title=Daimler to Settle With U.S. on Bribes | first1=Vanessa | last1=Fuhrmans | first2=Thomas | last2=Catan | date=24 March 2010}}</ref> Bazzetta alleged that he learned in a July 2001 corporate audit [[executive committee]] meeting in [[Stuttgart]] that [[business unit]]s "continued to maintain secret bank accounts to [[bribe]] foreign [[government official]]s", though the company knew the practice violated U.S. laws.

The investigation for the case also revealed that Daimler made some $56 million in bribes related to more than 200 transactions in 22 countries that earned the company $1.9 billion in revenue and at least $91.4 million in illegal profits.  "Using offshore bank accounts, third-party agents and deceptive pricing practices, these companies [Daimler AG and its subsidiaries] saw foreign bribery as a way of doing business", said [[Mythili Raman]], a principal deputy in the Justice Department's criminal division.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/02/business/02daimler.html | work=The New York Times | title=Daimler Bribery Settlement Is Approved | date=1 April 2010 | access-date=2010-05-20}}</ref>

"It is no exaggeration to describe corruption and bribe-paying at Daimler as a standard business practice", [[Robert Khuzami]], director of the SEC's enforcement division, said in a statement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/transportation/update-judge-approves-settlement-daimler-bribery-case/ |title=UPDATE: US Judge Approves Settlement in Daimler Bribery Case |website=foxbusiness.com |access-date=2 April 2010 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Judge Richard J. Leon of United States District Court in Washington, approved the plea agreement and settlement, calling it a "just resolution."

==See also==
*[[Iraq sanctions]]
*[[Economy of Iraq]]
*[[Post-invasion Iraq, 2003–present#Management of Iraq Reconstruction Program|Management of Iraq Reconstruction Programme]]
*[[Oil-for-Food Program Hearings]]
*[[Fuel vs food]]
*[[Oil price]]

== Endnotes ==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite book|last1=Duelfer|first1=Charles|author-link1=Charles A. Duelfer|author2=Iraq Survey Group|author-link2=Iraq Survey Group|title=Comprehensive Report of the Special Advisor to the DCI on Iraq's WMD|url= http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/pagedetails.action?granuleId=&packageId=GPO-DUELFERREPORT&fromBrowse=true|access-date=2 November 2011|date=30 September 2004|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=0-16-072492-9}}

==External links==

===Sites===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050314031614/http://www.iic-offp.org/ Independent Inquiry into the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme]
* [http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=S/RES/986%20(1995)&Lang=E&Area=UNDOC Resolution 986 authorizing the Oil-for-Food Programme]
* [https://www.un.org/Depts/oip/background/index.html UN Office of the Iraq Programme Oil-for-Food]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050218033030/http://www.oilforfoodfacts.org/ Oil-for-Food Facts] – website of the [[UN Foundation]] an independent UN political booster organization
* [[SourceWatch]] on [https://web.archive.org/web/20060628020024/http://www.sourcewatch.org/wiki.phtml?title=Oil-for-Food_Program Oil-for-Food Programme]
*   [http://www.burfordmaney.com/ourcases/republicofiraqvabbl.html Burford and Maney – Republic of Iraq v. ABB Ltd. et al.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105161339/http://burfordmaney.com/our-cases/republic-of-iraq-v-abb|date=5 January 2009}}

===Articles===
''2007''
* europaticker: [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928051705/http://www.umweltruf.de/ticker/news_druck0.php3?nummer=3956 oils for Food – scandal in Iraq: Transparency Germany inserts complaint against 57 German enterprises]
* [https://telchaination.blogspot.com/2007/08/houston-defendants-in-oil-for-food.html Tel Chai Nation:] Oil-for-Food scandal: the Houston-based defendants

''2005''
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051104000936/http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2005/11/putting-oil-for-food-in-perspective.php Putting Oil-for-Food in Perspective], [[JURIST]], 2 November 2005
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070106090107/http://transparency.org/news_room/latest_news/press_releases/2005/oil_for_food_27_10_05 Oil for food: A shared failure – Still a long way to go], [http://transparency.org/ transparency.org], 27 October 2005
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051107090844/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051028/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_oil_for_food "U.N.: 2,200 Companies Gave Iraq Illicit Funds"], Nick Wadhams & Edith Lederer, [[Associated Press]], [[Yahoo!|Yahoo]] News, 27 October 2005
* ''[[Financial Times]]'', 13 January 2005, [http://news.ft.com/cms/s/d9d4d8b0-64f6-11d9-9f8b-00000e2511c8.html "US ignored warning on Iraqi oil smuggling"] {{subscription required}}
* CNN.com, [http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/02/02/iraq.oil.smuggle/ Documents: U.S. condoned Iraq oil smuggling], 2 February 2005
* BBC, 15 April 2005, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4448775.stm Row deepens over UN oil scandal]
* ''[[The Guardian]]'', 17 May 2005, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/may/17/otherparties.iraq US 'backed illegal Iraqi oil deals']
* ''AlterNet'', 4 October 2005, [https://www.alternet.org/2005/10/kofi_and_the_scandal_pimps/ "Kofi and the Scandal Pimps"]
* ''[[Le Monde]]'', 13 October 2005, [https://web.archive.org/web/20051016004004/http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3224,36-698848@51-698437,0.html M. Boidevaix aurait été "en contact constant avec le quai d'Orsay"]
* ''[[India Today]]'', 13 December 2005, [https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/20051212-oil-for-food-scandal-how-natwar-singh-used-2001-iraq-visit-to-secure-deals-786455-2005-12-12 "Oil-for-food scandal: How Natwar Singh used 2001 Iraq visit to secure deals"]
''2004''
* [https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/mar/21/20040321-101405-2593r/ The U.N. Oil for Food scandal] – ''[[Washington Times]]'', March 2004
* BBC, 19 March 2004, [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3549679.stm Galloway accepts libel damages]
* [[Jean-David Levitte]], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', 7 April 2004, [https://web.archive.org/web/20040611032643/http://www.ambafrance-us.org/news/statmnts/2004/levitte_latimes040704.asp First 'Freedom Fries,' Now Oil-for-Food Lies; Op ed of French ambassador to the US]
* Claudia Rosett, ''Commentary'', May 2004, [https://web.archive.org/web/20041010024254/http://www.commentarymagazine.com/SpecialArticle.asp?article=A11705017_1 "What Did Kofi Annan Know, and When Did He Know It?"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041028175423/http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/002904.php Hankes-Drielsma connections to Chalabi], May 2004
* [https://harpers.org/archive/2004/12/the-u-n-is-us/ The U.N. Is Us: Exposing Saddam Hussein's Silent Partner] U.S. Complicity in the Oil Smuggling [[Harper's Magazine]] December 2004

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oil-For-Food Programme}}
[[Category:United Nations Oil-for-Food scandal]]
[[Category:United Nations Security Council mandates|986]]
[[Category:1995 in international relations]]
[[Category:Sanctions against Iraq]]