[JURIST] UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan [official website] Monday ordered an investigation into the operations of the multi-billion dollar procurement division of the United Nations. Annan said UN Controller Warren Sachs would oversee the division while an independent commission probes earlier charges and the charges stemming from the latest report [PDF text] provided by the panel investigating the Oil-for-Food scandal [JURIST news archive]. The UN, reluctant to name the group handling the probe, said in a statement [text, scroll down] it would be conducted by an "independent external consultancy company." Last week former UN procurement officer Alexander Yakovlev pleaded guilty [US DOJ press release, PDF] to US charges that he accepted close to $1 million in bribes from UN contractors in the Oil-for-Food scandal. Fox News has more.