Investigators resigned over oil-for-food inquiry 'cover-up'

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By Charles Laurence in New York and Henry Samuel in Paris
(Filed: 24/04/2005)

The two senior investigators on the Volcker commission, appointed by the United Nations to investigate the oil-for-food scandal, resigned last week because they feared a "de facto cover-up" over a report into Kojo Annan's business dealings.

The interim report, published last month, found "no evidence" that Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, had any "affirmative or improper influence" in the decision to give Swiss company Cotecna, for which his son, Kojo, was a consultant, a multi-million dollar contract to monitor Iraq's oil-for-food scheme.

It did, however, find fault with Mr Annan for inadequately investigating the affair, and raised questions about his relationship with Cotecna's management.

Last night, in the most explicit criticism so far directed at the report, Robert Parton, one of the senior investigators, told a lawyer involved with the Volcker inquiry that he thought the committee was "engaging in a de facto cover-up, acting with good intentions but steered by ideology".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/24/wun24.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/04/24/ixworld.html

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1. Briton accused in Iraq oil scam

The Sunday Times

Gareth Walsh



A BRITISH oil trader accused of paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein says he will fight the allegations.
John Irving, 50, is believed by American investigators to have been involved in a scheme to bypass the UN oil-for-food programme by channelling money through a front company.

Irving has been charged along with David Chalmers, owner of Houston-based Bayoil, and Ludmil Dionissiev, a Bulgarian oil trader. Chalmers and Dionissiev were arrested in Houston and will appear in court tomorrow.

Last week Irving’s lawyer, Andrew Preston, said Irving was merely a Bayoil employee and was “absolutely shocked” to be named in criminal proceedings in New York.

“He denies any wrongdoing and is going to fight this all the way. We are told there is a warrant out for his arrest and extradition proceedings have been issued in New York but we have not heard anything from the authorities in Britain.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1582761,00.html

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2. a little googling brought the info that Mr Parton is a former FBI

agent...

Since he is an American investigator, I have reservations as to what his true motives were in resigning. If he were a European I would be less likely to think this is a continuation of the systematic chipping away at the UN as a force in international dialog.

But hey, I could be wrong...... :shrug: