$20m 'hole' in Iraqi funds held by US-led authority

$20m 'hole' in Iraqi funds held by US-led authority
By Kim Sengupta
28 June 2004



The US-controlled administration in Baghdad has failed to account for more than £20m of the country's money as it hands over power to an Iraqi government, a report says. The money - oil revenues and international funds frozen during Saddam Hussein's regime - had passed into the coffers of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) before disappearing, according to the report.

Although a belated audit is being done, its results, expected to be critical of the CPA, are not due until the middle of July, two weeks after the organisation ceases to exist. The $18.5bn in aid authorised by the US Congress is the subject of no less than four separate audits.

The report, by the charity Christian Aid, accused Washington of breaching the United Nations resolution which handed the Iraqi funds to the CPA. Resolution 1483 of May 2003 stated that the spending of the money, by the CPA-controlled Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), should be independently audited. But an auditor was not appointed until April this year, so the result cannot come out until after the handover.

Diplomatic sources said the audit showed that vast sums have been lost due to incompetence, theft and corruption. Huge contracts were given out to Western - overwhelmingly American - companies, some charging almost 10 times the price of local ones. Iraqi companies began to receive contracts only two months ago, and then only for projects of less than $500,000.
(snip/...)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=535744

http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/eo/eo-13290.htm

Executive Order 13290 of March 20, 2003

Confiscating and Vesting Certain Iraqi Property

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and in order to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 12722 of August 2, 1990,

I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, hereby determine that the United States and Iraq are engaged in armed hostilities, that it is in the interest of the United States to confiscate certain property of the Government of Iraq and its agencies, instrumentalities, or controlled entities, and that all right, title, and interest in any property so confiscated should vest in the Department of the Treasury. I intend that such vested property should be used to assist the Iraqi people and to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq, and determine that such use would be in the interest of and for the benefit of the United States.

I hereby order:

Section 1. All blocked funds held in the United States in accounts in the name of the Government of Iraq, the Central Bank of Iraq, Rafidain Bank, Rasheed Bank, or the State Organization for Marketing Oil are hereby confiscated and vested in the Department of the Treasury, except for the following:

(a) any such funds that are subject to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations or the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, or that enjoy equivalent privileges and immunities under the laws of the United States, and are or have been used for diplomatic or consular purposes, and

(b) any such amounts that as of the date of this order are subject to post-judgment writs of execution or attachment in aid of execution of judgments pursuant to section 201 of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (Public Law 107 297), provided that, upon satisfaction of the judgments on which such writs are based, any remainder of such excepted amounts shall, by virtue of this order and without further action, be confiscated and vested.

Sec. 2. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to perform, without further approval, ratification, or other action of the President, all functions of the President set forth in section 203(a)(1)(C) of IEEPA with respect to any and all property of the Government of Iraq, including its agencies, instrumentalities, or controlled entities, and to take additional steps, including the promulgation of rules and regulations as may be necessary, to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate such functions in accordance with applicable law. The Secretary of the Treasury shall consult the Attorney General as appropriate in the implementation of this order.

Sec. 3. This order shall be transmitted to the Congress and published in the Federal Register.

George W. Bush

THE WHITE HOUSE,

March 20, 2003.

hmmmm.....

March 20, 2003

Wasn't that the day of the "invasion"?

of * and his thugs, and no depths too low for them to sink. They could sit on a pile of gold a mile high, and suffer whiplash trying to dive for a penny on the ground before a poor person could get it. They are truly the most despicable gang of cutthroats ever to sully American politics.

Getting them out of power in November is critical to our survival. I'm afraid a lot of people don't realize how vital this election is, if we are to continue to function as a democracy.