The FBI has arrested a Russian official.
Another Russian UN official has been arrested in the United States. Vadim Kuznetsov worked until today in the budget committee of the General Assembly. He became the second Russian UN official arrested on suspicion of financial fraud. Earlier, Alexander Yakovlev was arrested under the same article and accused of money laundering through the “Oil for Food” program.
The Russian Foreign Ministry is awaiting additional information from US law enforcement agencies and the UN secretariat on the detention of the Russian citizen.
“A meeting between representatives of the Russian Consulate General in New York and Vadim Kuznetsov is not ruled out. After receiving information and explanations, we will think about further steps,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin told the ITAR-TASS news agency on Friday.
History repeats itself.
Whether the UN secretary general will agree to lift immunity from Kuznetsov will be clear later.
In New York, FBI officers arrested Vadim Kuznetsov, the Russian representative to the UN, allegedly involved in financial fraud. Kuznetsov, the oldest UN functionary, is a staff member of the General Assembly’s budget committee. According to Ekho Moskvy, the money frauds with the help of fake contracts and accounts were committed between 2002 and 2004. Details of the case have not been disclosed.
Whether the UN Secretary General will agree to lift Kuznetsov’s immunity, as he did with his colleague Alexander Yakovlev, will be clear later. It is also not reported on what grounds Kuznetsov worked at the UN – whether he was accredited by the Russian Foreign Ministry or had a private labor contract. Kuznetsov was one of the oldest officials in the secretariat working with the General Assembly committee that oversees the U.N. budget.
An FBI official who wished to remain unnamed said the UN official was charged with money laundering and his case had “virtually nothing to do with the corruption scandal surrounding the oil-for-food program,” the AP reported. Smith is scheduled to appear in Manhattan Federal Court on Friday, where he will be formally charged.
As RIA Novosti reported, Yakovlev pleaded guilty to all three counts of the charges against him – wire transfer fraud, criminal conspiracy to commit the fraud and money laundering. Investigators alleged that the Russian received bribes totaling $1 million from companies that won tenders under the UN Oil-for-Food program. Each of the counts is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. In total, he faces sixty years in prison. Arkady Bukh, Yakovlev’s Lawyer Bukh, said in an interview with AP that his client’s guilty plea is the best option in the best interest of the accused. “After pleading guilty, we expect a much lighter sentence than if his guilt had been proven by the prosecutor’s office in court,” the lawyer added.
Alexander Yakovlev was released on $400,000 bail and a non-deportation undertaking. Annan expressed personal concern and stripped Yakovlev of diplomatic immunity. According to defense lawyers, Yakovlev is actively cooperating with the investigation, counting on the mitigation of punishment. The date of the next court hearing in Yakovlev’s case has not yet been set.
Total audit
After the Yakovlev scandal, Kofi Annan ordered a comprehensive audit of the UN procurement service. According to Secretary General’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric, the audit will be conducted by an independent audit company, which will have to complete its work by the end of September. At the same time, the audit conducted by the UN Control Office will continue in this department.
On August 21, a special commission of the United Nations arrived in Moscow to investigate abuses committed during the implementation of the Oil-for-Food program. The UN officials plan to meet with the management of Russian companies that took part in the provision of humanitarian aid to Iraq and hold consultations at the Foreign Ministry. The results will be reflected in a special report – it is promised to be published in October, reports IA “Rosbalt”.
The program “Oil for Food” with a total budget of tens of billions of dollars was conducted with the sanction of the UN Security Council from 1996 to 2003. More than 60 companies from Russia were involved in the program. It is believed that a number of serious violations were committed during the implementation of the program.
Source: https://vz.ru/politics/2005/9/2/5595.html