The Coalition of the Bribed

**Leader** · 03 Sep 05,, 07:15

I remember when Kerry said that Our Coalition in Iraq was the "coalition of the bribed, the coerced, the bought and the extorted." He was right about one thing there was a coalition that met that description, but it was against the war not for it.

Russian Held in Scheme to Launder U.N. Bribes
By JULIA PRESTON

A Russian diplomat who is the chairman of a United Nations budget watchdog committee has been indicted in New York on charges of conspiring to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, federal authorities announced yesterday.

The diplomat, Vladimir Kuznetsov, was arrested Thursday evening by F.B.I. agents at a restaurant in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment yesterday in Federal District Court in Manhattan.

Mr. Kuznetsov has served since January 2004 as the chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions, an autonomous agency of the General Assembly responsible for close oversight of spending by the United Nations. He received his salary and diplomatic immunity from the United Nations. At the request of the United States, Secretary General Kofi Annan waived immunity for Mr. Kuznetsov shortly before he was arrested, United States officials said.

Mr. Kuznetsov is accused of conspiring with a United Nations procurement officer, Aleksandr V. Yakovlev, to conceal and transfer money that Mr. Yakovlev received from foreign companies in exchange for inside information about United Nations contracts. Mr. Yakovlev, who also is Russian, pleaded guilty on Aug. 8 in the same court to money laundering and wire fraud, admitting his role in a bribery scheme related to the former United Nations oil-for-food aid program for Iraq.

Mr. Kuznetsov's arrest is the first of a United Nations official since Mr. Yakovlev's guilty plea, and appears to have resulted from information Mr. Yakovlev provided to prosecutors.

According to the indictment unsealed yesterday, Mr. Yakovlev "informed" Mr. Kuznetsov sometime in 2000 of his plan to receive payments from foreign companies bidding on United Nations contracts. Not long after, Mr. Yakovlev received a wire transfer from a company, not identified by name, that was bidding on an airlifting contract.

After that transfer, the indictment charges, Mr. Kuznetsov received two payments - on April 3, 2000, and June 5, 2000 - for a total of $32,000 in his personal accounts in New York from an account controlled by Mr. Yakovlev in the Antigua Overseas Bank Ltd.

Also in 2000, Mr. Yakovlev set up a front company called Moxyco Ltd. to channel his secret payments, while Mr. Kuznetsov in the same year set up a separate company, Nikal Ltd., both in the Antigua bank. Prosecutors said that Mr. Yakovlev transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next five years to the Nikal Ltd. account in the Antigua bank.

Citing a second case, the indictment says Mr. Yakovlev transferred $19,800 on May 4 to Mr. Kuznetsov's Nikal account, shortly after he had received a payment from a company seeking to win another airlift contract. Mr. Yakovlev is an unindicted co-conspirator in the case.

A magistrate judge, Michael H. Dolinger, set Mr. Kuznetsov's bail at a $1.5 million bond and $500,000 in cash or property. Mr. Kuznetsov, appearing in the green polo shirt and khaki shorts in which he was arrested, remained in custody, saying he did not have the money immediately available.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/03/in...gewanted=print

**dalem** · 03 Sep 05,, 08:27

It must really hurt the NYT to have to print the glaringly obvious about one of its special pet loves.

-dale

**Leader** · 03 Sep 05,, 08:31

Originally Posted by dalem

It must really hurt the NYT to have to print the glaringly obvious about one of its special pet loves.

-dale

It was probably on page 55 below the fold. There are, of course, more important things to put on the front page. Misinformation about Iraq, for example.

**667medic** · 03 Sep 05,, 08:54

Just curious about the Diplomat getting arrested, doesn't he have Diplomatic Immunity. Heard that usually diplomats are declared Persona Non Grata..

**Leader** · 03 Sep 05,, 08:59

Originally Posted by 667medic

Just curious about the Diplomat getting arrested, doesn't he have Diplomatic Immunity. Heard that usually diplomats are declared Persona Non Grata..

His immunity might originate with the UN rather then Russia. In which case, the last thing the UN's PR people want at the moment is to look like they are shielding this guy. Just a guess thou. I suppose that Russia might have waved his immunity as well, but I tend to doubt that.

**bonehead** · 03 Sep 05,, 18:51

Further proof that the UN is too corrupt to be fixed. ELIMINATE THE U.N.!!!

**dalem** · 04 Sep 05,, 08:20

Originally Posted by 667medic

Just curious about the Diplomat getting arrested, doesn't he have Diplomatic Immunity. Heard that usually diplomats are declared Persona Non Grata..

Interesting question. I think - but do not know - that the "diplomatic immunity" applies to crimes committed in the United States, but I guess the UN isn't considered the U.S. for that kind of thing. I mean, the crime was a white collar crime committed internationally. SOMEBODY has to arrest him.

-dale

**Ray** · 04 Sep 05,, 11:07

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Diplomatic immunity is a form of legal immunity and a policy held between governments, which ensures that diplomats are given safe passage and are considered not susceptible to lawsuit or prosecution under the host country's laws (although they can be expelled). It was agreed as international law in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), though there is a much longer history in international law.

It is possible for the official's home country to waive immunity; this tends to only happen when the individual has committed a serious crime, unconnected with their diplomatic role (as opposed to, say, allegations of spying), or has witnessed such a crime. Alternatively, the home country may prosecute the individual.