Alexander Yakovlev, a senior procurement officer at the United Nations has been charged with, and pled guilty to, taking bribes totalling around $1 million.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan waived diplomatic immunity for Alexander Yakovlev, a senior procurement officer, so that he could be prosecuted in U.S. courts. Yakovlev pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering, which could bring 20 years each.
The 52-year-old Russian resigned in June after separate revelations that he helped his son get a job with a company doing business with the United Nations. Annan’s office notified investigators of his further suspected corruption last month, said Annan’s top aide, Mark Malloch Brown.
[…] Yesterday, the U.N. Independent Inquiry Committee, led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, released a report alleging wrongdoing by the two officials.
The report said there was "persuasive evidence" Yakovlev received nearly $1 million in kickbacks from companies that had won about $79 million of U.N. contracts outside the oil-for-food program.
Investigators said Yakovlev had about $1.3 million in a West Indies bank account under the name of Moxyco Ltd., and they have traced about $950,000 so far to companies doing U.N. business.
I haven’t followed the oil for food or corruption scandals at the UN closely but I think Yakovlev is the first person to actually go on trial. Yakovlev wasn’t linked to and nor did he represent the Russian government - he was employed by the UN in a private capacity - but nonetheless, the Kremlin will be deeply embarrassed by this trial, which can only reinforce perceptions that Russian officials are corrupt.
{ 1 comment }
varske 08.17.05 at 8:34 am
Pardon me, but isn’t this just what people were accusing Kofi Annan of, fixing things up for his son?
Sounds like smokescreen to me.
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