The UN pledged on Friday to repay the World Bank, the US and other donor nations for a former UN official? alleged misappropriation of at least US$480,000 from a fund for rebuilding Afghanistan.
The UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Afghanistan said it would ?eimburse any money owed to its clients as a result of errors or misuse.?br />
It also promised to ?ake all steps possible to make good any outstanding damages?because of the alleged financial wrongdoing by the office? former head, Gary Helseth, between 2002 and 2006.
?he alleged misuse of UNOPS funds and breaches of accounting and procurement policies are grave charges,?the office said in a statement issued on its Web site.
A confidential investigation by the UN Procurement Task Force, which disbanded on Dec. 31, accuses Helseth of using the money to fuel a lavish lifestyle that 虹ncluded hundreds of thousands of dollars from the US Agency for International Development that were spent on rent, home renovations, a luxury car, lavish meals and first-class plane tickets.
It also says Helseth stole US$65,000 outright in cash from a UN safe, according to a copy of the report reviewed by The Associated Press.
?he overarching thesis of this investigation is that Mr Helseth routinely treated UNOPS and project money as his own personal bank account,?the report said.
The investigation into Helseth and the UNOPS funds was first reported by the Washington Post on Friday, prompting the response from UNOPS.
Helseth? attorney, Paul Charlton, based in Phoenix, Arizona, did not immediately return a phone message and e-mail seeking comment.
But in a 72-page response to the investigation, Charlton wrote that Helseth acknowledged some of the USAID money was improperly used but that he justified some of the spending because of the difficulties of doing business in Afghanistan, and denied stealing the money or committing fraud or embezzlement, the Post reported.
UNOPS said it initiated the investigation in late 2006, after staff alerted senior management of possible irregularities.
The investigation? conclusions are now being studied by the UN? Office of Legal Affairs. The task force recommended that the UN refer the case for possible criminal prosecution by US and Afghan authorities.
The UN Development Program, of which UNOPS was a part until 1995, also had investigated Helseth? financial activities and issued a report on it in March 2007 finding that Helseth converted funds to his own use and inappropriately charged personal expenses to UNOPS in 2004 and 2005.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS