FORMER UN OIL-FOR-FOOD CHIEF IN CYPRUS INDICTED ON BRIBERY CHARGES
Financial Mirror, Cyprus
Jan 17 2007
Benon Sevan, the former director of the UN oil-for-food programme
in Iraq, has been indicted by a US federal court in New York for
allegedly taking bribes from the Saddam Hussein regime.
A warrant has been issued for his arrest even though as a Cypriot
citizen he may escape arrest in the absence of an extradition treaty
with the United States.
Sevan, a Cypriot Armenian who headed the programme from 1996 to 2003,
allegedly took more than 160,000 dollars in kickbacks from the Iraqi
government. He has denied the charges.
Sevan allegedly received oil vouchers from the former Baghdad
government under Saddam Hussein through Ephraim Nadler, who has also
been indicted and sold them for a profit.
The charges against Sevan came out of a massive investigation
completed in mid-2006 by a commission headed by former US Federal
Reserve chairman Paul Volcker.
Under the oil-for-food programme more than 100 billion dollars in
Iraqi oil revenues were used to buy humanitarian goods for the Iraqi
population under strict UN economic sanctions. The programme was
terminated after the US military invasion of Iraq in March, 2003.
The investigation of corruption into the implementation of the
oil-for-food programme shook the world organization and former
Secretary General Kofi Annan’s career, exposing weaknesses in the
management of the massive relief programme.
Sevan has been living in Cyprus since the scandal broke.
If convicted, Sevan could face a prison term of up to 50 years in a
federal penitentiary. Sevan has not responded to requests for reaction
to the federal indictment.
Previously, Sevan was quoted by news reports as saying that he feared
such an indictment, but did not know who would pursue it, nor when
it would come about.
Former Kofi Annan removed all functional immunity for Sevan last year
after the release of the Volcker report.
Cyprus has no extradition agreement with the United States. The only
recourse the U.S. has is to seize Sevan’s assets or institute a travel
ban in order to snare him if and when he enters a nation that can
extradite him to the United States.
Sevan is a board member of the Armenian General Benevolent Union in
New York and was one of the 16 signatories of the decision to close
the historic Melkonian school in Cyprus.
The AGBU recently overturned a Nicosia court injunction on the prime
property of the Melkonian estate, estimated to be worth some CYP 40
mln (USD 84 mln), in an effort to sell the land to the highest bidder.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
