report on programme manipulation - Independent Inquiry Committee

More documents

Recommendations

Info

INDEPENDENT INQUIRY COMMITTEE INTO THE UNITED NATIONS OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAMME REPORT ON PROGRAMME MANIPULATION CHAPTER TWO OIL TRANSACTIONS AND ILLICIT PAYMENTS activities and his association with AFI, which effectively served as a lobby group for the Government of Iraq. Alluding to his anti-sanctions efforts, Mr. Munier stated: “In some cases, I wonder for some of the allocation holders where the return was for the Iraqis—in my case, I would understand.” He arranged the sale of approximately 10.5 million barrels to Aredio, a company affiliated with the Taurus Group, and discussed below in Section VI.C. 136 Mr. Munier’s share of the oil proceeds were used to support AFI’s anti-sanctions efforts. Throughout the 1990s, the Iraqi Interest Section in Paris had been the major source of funds for AFI’s pro-Iraq/anti-sanctions activities. By 1995, however, the Iraqi Interest Section was running out of money. In 1998, Jean-Loup Michel, the Managing Director of Aredio, approached Mr. Munier to assist his company in importing oil from Iraq. Mr. Munier agreed to “present” Mr. Michel’s company to Mr. Aziz and request allocations. In return, Mr. Michel would provide Aredio “(Iraqi-French Friendship Society)”), (Sept. 11, 2001) (approving contract M/10/86 for 2 million barrels of oil for Aredio “(Mr. Munier/Iraqi-French Friendship Society)”), (Jan. 19, 2002) (approving contract M/11/80 for 1.5 million barrels of oil for Aredio “(Mr. Munier/Iraqi-French Friendship Society)”), (Oct. 20, 2002) (approving contract M/12/122 for 1.5 million barrels of oil for Aredio “(for the benefit of Mr. Munier/Iraqi-French Friendship Society)”), (Dec. 24, 2002) (approving contract M/13/42 for 0.5 million barrels of oil for Aredio, noting that the total allocation for the phase is 1.5 million barrels of which 1 million barrels is from the Phase XII contract, and naming the recipient of the contract as “Mr. Munier (Iraqi-French Friendship Society)”) (each translated from Arabic) (hereinafter “Approval letters for Munier contracts”); SOMO oil allocation tables for Phase VI (undated) (indicating allocations of 1.8 million barrels of oil for “Friendship Society” in Phase V and Phase VI), Phase VII (Dec. 17, 1999) (indicating an allocation of 1.2 million barrels of oil to “Friendship Society”), Phase VIII (June 14, 2000) (indicating an allocation of 1.5 million barrels of oil to “Friendship Society”), Phase X (Aug. 4, 2001) (indicating an allocation of 2 million barrels of oil to “Iraqi-French Friendship Society/Mr. Munier”), Phase XI (Dec. 1, 2001) (indicating an allocation of 1.5 million barrels of oil to “Iraqi-French Friendship Society/Mr. Munier), Phase XII (May 19, 2002) (indicating an allocation of 1.5 million barrels to “Iraqi- French Friendship Society/Mr. Munier”), Phase XIII (Nov. 17, 2002) (indicating an allocation of 1.5 million barrels of oil to “Iraqi-French Friendship Society/Mr. Munier”) (each translated from Arabic) (hereinafter “SOMO oil allocation tables for Munier”). There is a discrepancy between United Nations Treasury data and SOMO records regarding the total number of barrels lifted under Mr. Munier’s contracts. This may be because Aredio also lifted oil for other beneficiaries and United Nations Treasury data for Aredio combines information for different Aredio contracts. 136 Gilles Munier interview (Sept. 23, 2005) (describing AFI as a lobby group that would consult with Iraqis and provide them with advice); Tariq Aziz interview (Mar. 1, 2005) (confirming that Mr. Munier received oil allocations because he was the head of AFI (described above) and stating that the profits from these allocations were intended to support the activities of this association); Iraq official interview (confirming that Mr. Munier received oil allocations and headed a French-Iraqi group); Committee oil beneficiary table, contract nos. M/05/66, M/06/69, M/07/40, M/08/56, M/10/86, M/11/80, M/12/122, M/13/42; Approval letters for Munier contracts. SOMO records indicate that all eight allocations lifted by Aredio are noted as being for AFI; several of these records note that the allocation is for “Mr. Munier/Iraqi- French Friendship Society.” REPORT ON PROGRAMME MANIPULATION–OCTOBER 27, 2005 PAGE 76 OF 623
INDEPENDENT INQUIRY COMMITTEE INTO THE UNITED NATIONS OIL-FOR-FOOD PROGRAMME REPORT ON PROGRAMME MANIPULATION CHAPTER TWO OIL TRANSACTIONS AND ILLICIT PAYMENTS financial support to AFI and remunerate Mr. Munier for his campaign to have sanctions against Iraq lifted. 137 To obtain allocations and Aredio’s contracts, Mr. Munier first met with Mr. Aziz late in 1998 and then, through Mr. Aziz’s office, he met with SOMO officials. Mr. Munier also submitted a letter recommending that SOMO contract with Aredio for his allocations. Starting in Phase V, and at the outset of every phase thereafter, Mr. Munier faxed SOMO a nomination letter recommending that Aredio “lift and market the barrels of my usual allocation.” When shown a copy of this letter from January 2002, Mr. Munier stated that this was a typical example of what he would submit to SOMO in each phase of the Programme. 138 Mr. Munier claimed that he has neither drawn a salary for his work at AFI nor has he received a commission from Aredio. He has, however, acknowledged that Aredio and Taurus remunerated him for his efforts as an intermediary by covering his expenses for his work at AFI. According to Mr. Munier, his arrangement with Aredio was such that Mr. Munier would submit AFI’s “global invoices” to Mr. Michel every two to six months and Aredio would reimburse AFI by check. Mr. Munier also submitted AFI invoices to and was reimbursed by Taurus. To coordinate these payments, Mr. Munier stated that he met with Martin Schenker “of Aredio” and Ben Pollner, the Director of Taurus. Mr. Munier explained that had he not been compensated, he would “not have been happy.” 139 137 Gilles Munier interview (Sept. 23, 2005). According to Mr. Munier, “smaller companies needed my contacts—that’s why I worked with Michel.” Gilles Munier interview (Sept. 23, 2005). Mr. Munier’s allocations were classified under “Special Requests for France” in SOMO’s allocations records. SOMO oil allocation tables for Munier. 138 Gilles Munier interview (Sept. 23, 2005) (recalling that this meeting occurred in either November or December 1998); Iraq official interviews (describing that during his regular trips to Iraq, Mr. Munier would personally visit SOMO and would meet with Mr. Aziz, among others); SOMO sales contract, no. M/05/66 (Mar. 2, 1999); Gilles Munier letter to Saddam Z. Hassan (Jan. 10, 2002). 139 Gilles Munier interview (Sept. 23, 2005); Brit Hume, et al., “Special Report with Brit Hume,” Fox News Network, Feb. 16, 2004 (<strong>report</strong>ing that Mr. Munier has stated that during the Programme, he had “served as an intermediary and in exchange for that, got some benefits”); Philip Delves Broughton and Jack Fairweather, “Saddam’s Web of Bribery ‘went round the world,’” The Daily Telegraph, Jan. 28, 2004, p. 13 (admitting that he and AFI had received commissions for introducing businesses to contacts in Iraq, and stated that all of these interactions were legal and within the rules of the Programme); see also Lara Marlowe, “Gaullist MP and Ex-minister Linked to Saddam Oil Scandal,” Irish Times, Jan. 29, 2004; Rory McCarthy and Owen Bowcott, “Iraqi Council List of Alleged Bribes,” The Guardian, Jan. 30, 2004; Gilles Munier interview (Sept. 23, 2005) (stating that he met with Mr. Schenker “of Aredio” once or twice and with Mr. Pollner two or three times); see also Martin Schenker fax to Gilles Munier (Apr. 9, 2003) (promising to send “the results” and “the details” to Mr. Munier the following day). AFI’s activities and expenses included funding anti-sanctions advertisements in newspapers, publishing an Iraq history and guidebook, and, although the plan was never realized, chartering a Boeing flight to Baghdad. Gilles Munier interview (Sept. 23, 2005) (clarifying that occasionally Aredio would make payments for AFI directly to a service provider and estimating that he sent six invoices to Aredio). Martin Schenker was the signatory on seven of Aredio’s 14 oil sales contracts with SOMO. SOMO oil allocation tables for Munier. REPORT ON PROGRAMME MANIPULATION–OCTOBER 27, 2005 PAGE 77 OF 623
Page 1 and 2:
INDEPENDENT INQUIRY COMMITTEE INTO
Page 3 and 4:
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18: INDEPENDENT INQUIRY COMMITTEE INTO
Page 67: INDEPENDENT INQUIRY COMMITTEE INTO
Page 118 and 119:
Page 120 and 121:
Page 122 and 123:
Page 124 and 125:
Page 126 and 127:
Page 128 and 129:
Page 130 and 131:
Page 132 and 133:
Page 134 and 135:
Page 136 and 137:
Page 138 and 139:
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148 and 149:
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176 and 177:
Page 178 and 179:
Page 180 and 181:
Page 182 and 183:
Page 184 and 185:
Page 186 and 187:
Page 188 and 189:
Page 190 and 191:
Page 192 and 193:
Page 194 and 195:
Page 196 and 197:
Page 198 and 199:
Page 200 and 201:
Page 202 and 203:
Page 204 and 205:
Page 206 and 207:
Page 208 and 209:
Page 210 and 211:
Page 212 and 213:
Page 214 and 215:
Page 216 and 217:
Page 218 and 219:
Page 220 and 221:
Page 222 and 223:
Page 224 and 225:
Page 226 and 227:
Page 228 and 229:
Page 230 and 231:
Page 232 and 233:
Page 234 and 235:
Page 236 and 237:
Page 238 and 239:
Page 240:
show all

report on programme manipulation - Independent Inquiry Committee

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?