Sevan lawyer in early attack on report

Sevan lawyer in early attack on report
By Mark Turner at the United Nations

Financial Times (London)
August 5, 2005

The lawyer for Benon Sevan, the United Nations official who formerly
headed Iraq's oil-for-food programme, yesterday pre-empted a critical
report that will accuse his client of accepting kickbacks by claiming
its findings are biased and untrue.

Eric Lewis, Mr Sevan's counsel, said yesterday the independent inquiry
committee (IIC) headed by Paul Volcker was incompetent, and that it
had been out to "scapegoat" his client "from the beginning". He said
the Volcker committee, which is due to release its new findings on
Tuesday, had advised Mr Sevan it would allege that he "took money
from a contractor that bought oil from Iraq under the programme".

It would also state that Mr Sevan did not co-operate with the
investigation. But Mr Lewis said the committee had "only provided
vague categories of information supposedly underlying its charge,
such as financial documents".

"How does one respond to the alleged evidence when it is not
provided?" he asked. "The fact is, the committee's allegations
are baseless. Mr Sevan never took a penny, as he has said from the
beginning."

The committee declined to respond to the attack, merely stating:
"Everything will be addressed on Tuesday." It isexpected to present
two further reports on the scandal-plagued programme before wrapping
up its work.

Mr Lewis said: "The IIC accuses Mr Sevan of taking money, when he fully
and voluntarily disclosed cash gifts that he received, from the elderly
aunt who raised him, on his UN financial disclosure forms. Now the IIC
contends that these gifts were really kickbacks paid by a contractor
in concert with a friend. There is no basis for this false allegation."

Mr Lewis claimed it was "undisputed" that the contract was begun before
Mr Sevan even met the contractor. He also said it was "not credible
to argue that Mr Sevan .. would jeopardise his career for $160,000;
trust a. person he had never met to carry out the scheme; and report
the proceeds on his UN financial disclosure forms. It never happened".

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