Audit criticizes Iraq's handling of oil sales after power transfer
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -
The board monitoring Iraq's oil revenue said Monday that Iraqi leaders mishandled about $100 million in oil money meant for development in the six months after they took power from the U.S. government.
The International Advisory and Monitoring Board said a new audit also found the now-defunct U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority used questionable accounting practices with money from the Development Fund for Iraq. It also singled out the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for refusing to provide files for contracts that were funded with Iraqi oil revenue.
The audit, conducted by accounting firm KPMG, covered the period from the June 28, 2004, transfer of sovereignty to the new interim government until Dec. 31.
While the audit makes no accusations of fraud or wrongdoing, it notes that Iraqi ministries and U.S. agencies awarded numerous noncompetitive contracts with development money. At one point, U.S. agencies bought armored vehicles with $988,000 that was supposed to be used for Iraq's development. In one case a $6.1 million contract "was advertised on a subscription only Web site and therefore not publicly tendered," the report found. "Only two bids were received for the contract."
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Venable said he hadn't seen the latest report and couldn't comment on its specifics. But he said the CPA did well in difficult circumstances in Iraq, "implementing hundreds of projects to improve the quality of life for the Iraqi people."
The audit said that during that time, Iraqis violated a U.N. Security Council resolution that was passed to make sure oil profits went to help the country recover from war. For example, the government bartered petroleum products for electricity and other oil products from Syria in transactions worth $461 million. It later deposited $97.7 million from oil sales into its own bank accounts, a direct violation.>>>continued
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-05-23-iraq-oil-audit_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -
The board monitoring Iraq's oil revenue said Monday that Iraqi leaders mishandled about $100 million in oil money meant for development in the six months after they took power from the U.S. government.
The International Advisory and Monitoring Board said a new audit also found the now-defunct U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority used questionable accounting practices with money from the Development Fund for Iraq. It also singled out the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for refusing to provide files for contracts that were funded with Iraqi oil revenue.
The audit, conducted by accounting firm KPMG, covered the period from the June 28, 2004, transfer of sovereignty to the new interim government until Dec. 31.
While the audit makes no accusations of fraud or wrongdoing, it notes that Iraqi ministries and U.S. agencies awarded numerous noncompetitive contracts with development money. At one point, U.S. agencies bought armored vehicles with $988,000 that was supposed to be used for Iraq's development. In one case a $6.1 million contract "was advertised on a subscription only Web site and therefore not publicly tendered," the report found. "Only two bids were received for the contract."
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Venable said he hadn't seen the latest report and couldn't comment on its specifics. But he said the CPA did well in difficult circumstances in Iraq, "implementing hundreds of projects to improve the quality of life for the Iraqi people."
The audit said that during that time, Iraqis violated a U.N. Security Council resolution that was passed to make sure oil profits went to help the country recover from war. For example, the government bartered petroleum products for electricity and other oil products from Syria in transactions worth $461 million. It later deposited $97.7 million from oil sales into its own bank accounts, a direct violation.>>>continued
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-05-23-iraq-oil-audit_x.htm?POE=NEWISVA
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 11:11 PM
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