U.N. orders new corruption probe

UNITED NATIONS – The top U.N. management official said Wednesday he has ordered a new investigation of the procurement division in light of a senior officer’s guilty plea for taking massive bribes from contractors.

The review by Christopher Burnham will add to the extraordinary level of scrutiny on the procurement department, which first gained serious attention over its involvement in the scandal-tainted U.N. oil-for-food program.

On Monday one of its staff, Alexander Yakovlev, pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in part for soliciting bribes from U.N. contractors. He was believed to have taken at least $950,000.

“I am compelled to begin my own review and audit to make sure we are doing everything humanly possible to prevent this from happening in the future,” Burnham said.While Yakovlev has been implicated in a separate investigation of the oil-for-food program, the bribes he acknowledged taking fell outside the operation.

That has led to fears that corruption within the procurement department may have been more widespread than previously thought.

Burnham, undersecretary-general for management, said the new review was necessary because the United Nations had already sought for months to straighten out his department, including with an audit ordered in spring.

Mark Malloch Brown, chief of staff to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said Monday that the outside audit had found several shortcomings and the U.N. would enact several of its recommendations.

“It is deeply disturbing to think that after all the effort that has gone into reforming the procurement process that we could still have corruption in its ranks,” Burnham said.

Burnham said his review will study internal controls, everyday operations and staffing.

One goal of the new investigation would be to find out what the U.N. needs to do “to ensure that member states can have complete faith in the integrity” of the procurement division, Burnham said.

A U.N.-backed inquiry of the Iraq oil-for-food program has touched on its work, censuring some of its officials, including Yakovlev. That probe, led by former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, expects to finish its work later this year.