Senate panel accuses former Oil-for-Food head of pocketing over $1M News
Senate panel accuses former Oil-for-Food head of pocketing over $1M

[JURIST] The US Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations [official website] has said that former head of the UN Oil-for-Food program [official website] Benon Sevan [official profile] made over $1 million from allocating oil from Saddam Hussein's regime. An independent UN inquiry into the Oil-for-Food program concluded that Sevan solicited oil deals in an improper manner [JURIST report; UN Inquiry report – PDF text], but stopped short of accusing Sevan of bribery or criminal conduct. Last week, Sevan was formally suspended [JURIST report] from his post. The Senate Subcommittee's accusations against Sevan come as it prepares to hold a second hearing [witness list] Tuesday on the operations of independent inspection agents retained by the UN and their role within the Oil-For-Food program. Live audio of the hearing will be available beginning at 9:30 AM ET. AFP has more.