The Oil-for-Food Scandal – the Canadian Connection

[hiti]

From the original article...........

rich Canadian whose bank made millions

This is obviously wrong for no Canadian owns a bank.

[JBG]

I see Tongsun Park is still in the fraud business. I had forgotten that name.

I guess nothing ever changes.

[rbacon]

UN envoy knows accused in oil-for-food scandal

By NICK WADHAMS








UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A prominent Canadian businessman and envoy for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan acknowledged Monday he knows a Korean businessman who has been accused of wrongdoing in the UN oil-for-food scandal.

Maurice Strong, Annan's special adviser for North Korea, said in a statement that he has "continued to maintain a relationship" with Tongsun Park and that Park invested in an energy company he was associated with in 1997.

The statement did not identify the company and Strong could not immediately be reached for comment.

Strong said Park, a native of North Korea, had advised him on Korean issues. He denied any involvement in the oil-for-food program.

"Indeed, I cannot recall a single instance in which I had any contact or discussion on the program with any of the officials responsible," Strong said.

The oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 to 2003, was created to help Iraqis cope with UN sanctions imposed after president Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. It let the Iraqi government sell limited - and eventually unlimited - amounts of oil primarily to buy humanitarian goods.

But Saddam chose the buyers of Iraqi oil and the sellers of humanitarian goods. In a bid to end the sanctions, Saddam allegedly gave former government officials, activists, journalists and UN officials vouchers for oil to be resold at a profit.

On Thursday, Park was charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office with allegedly accepting millions of dollars from the Iraqi government while he operated in the United States as an unregistered agent for Baghdad.

Park was accused of telling a co-operating government witness in 1995 that he needed the equivalent of $12.5 million Cdn from Iraq to "take care" of his expenses and his people. The witness believed that that meant a person identified in court papers only as "UN Official No. 1."

In 1996, another high-ranking UN official attended a restaurant meeting with Park, an Iraqi official and the government witness. After "UN Official 2" left, Park claimed that he had used a $6.25-million guarantee from the Iraqi government to fund business dealings with "UN Official 2," court papers said.

Park told the government witness in 1997 or 1998 that he had invested about $1.25 million that he received from Iraq in a Canadian company established by the son of "UN Official 2," although the company failed and the money was lost.

Strong has held senior level positions in various companies, including Petro-Canada and Ontario Hydro. He has served as undersecretary general of the United Nations since 1985, advised the president of the World Bank and served as a UN special envoy to North Korea.

[Wlyonmackenzie]

From the original article...........

rich Canadian whose bank made millions

This is obviously wrong for no Canadian owns a bank.

Yah I suppose Desmarais owning his French bank is a figment of his imagination....lot of that going around

[Allan]

Hot off the airwaves:

According to John Loftus
on the John Batchelor Show WABC

Tongsun Park has agreed to come back to the USA to testify.

If he talks he gets a get out of jail free card.
Kelley wants the 'big players'.

Boutros Ghali
and
Maurice Strong
whose son ran a company
in which Park was an investor.
are the two UN officials named.

[styky]

Looks like the pressure is building and people are starting to ask questions.



Canadian Envoy Denies Ties to UN Oil-Food Scandal

Mon Apr 18, 6:54 PM ET World - Canada


By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A high-profile Canadian businessman and U.N. envoy acknowledged on Monday his ties with a South Korean lobbyist suspected of bribing two U.N. officials in the oil-for-food scandal.

But Maurice Strong, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special adviser for North Korea, said in a statement he had "no connection whatsoever with the U.N.'s Iraq oil-for-food program or any other of its Iraqi activities."

"Indeed I cannot recall a single instance in which I had any contact or discussions on the program with any of the officials responsible," Strong said.

However, he said that Tongsun Park in 1997 invested "on a normal commercial basis in an energy company with which I was associated that had no relationship with Iraq."

Strong said he continued to maintain a relationship with Park, the South Korean businessman at the center of a 1977 U.S. congressional influence-peddling scandal.

"Indeed as a native of North Korea he has advised me on North Korean issues in my role as U.N. envoy," Strong said.

Two unidentified high-ranking U.N. officials were cited last Thursday in a criminal complaint against Park by the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York.

Park, 70, the federal complaint said, started working for Iraq in 1992, when the oil-for-food program was being designed. In early 1993 he arranged meetings in New York and then in Geneva with a high-ranking U.N. official.

In 1995, Park told a witness, a suspected fellow lobbyist, he needed more money from Iraq to "take care " of "his expenses and his people," the U.S. complaint said.

In 1997 or 1998 after Iraq threatened to cut off money, Park arranged a meeting in a Manhattan restaurant with a second high-ranking U.N. official. Park told an informant he had spent $5 million to "fund business dealings," the complaint said.

Park, the complaint said, also invested about $1 million in an unnamed Canadian company "established by the son of U.N. official." However, Park said the money was lost because the company failed.

There was no evidence in the complaint that the Canadian company was associated with Strong.

U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Strong had an office close to Annan's in 1997 for about a year to work on U.N. reform. Annan on Friday said he had never met Park.

The United Nations has asked Paul Volcker, the former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman, to conduct an independent investigation. He has released two interim reports and will finish his work mid-year.

Strong, who in 1992 organized the world's first Earth Summit on the environment in Rio de Janeiro, said he was available for talks with the Volcker committee and the U.S. Attorney's office "to provide any further information which would assist in the expeditious resolution of this matter so as to have this cloud removed as soon as possible."

Strong, who has also served as a senior adviser to the World Bank president, has run several companies in the energy and resources sector, including Power Corporation of Canada, Ontario Hydro, and Petro-Canada. He is in his mid-70s.

The oil-for-food program began in late 1997 and allowed Iraq to sell oil to buy nonmilitary goods in order to ease the impact of 1990 U.N. sanctions on ordinary people.

After the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Iraq disclosed a veritable who's who of political groups and individuals around the world from whom Saddam Hussein wanted to buy influence to

LINK

[kenan]

No mention of Mo Strong's connection to Chretien, Martin and the Canadian PMO in the article though...or did I miss that?

[styky]

Envoy Admits Ties With S. Korea Business

Mon Apr 18, 6:45 PM ET U.S. National - AP


By NICK WADHAMS, Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS - A prominent Canadian businessman and envoy for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan acknowledged ties Monday with a South Korean businessman who has been accused of wrongdoing in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal.


AP Photo
Slideshow: Oil-for-Food Corruption Probe

Annan Refuses to Quit U.N. Over Report
(AP Video)


Maurice Strong, Annan's special adviser for North Korea, said in a statement that he has "continued to maintain a relationship" with Tongsun Park and that Park invested in an energy company he was associated with in 1997.


The statement did not identify the company and Strong could not immediately be reached for comment. U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Strong was in the Dominican Republic recovering from an illness.


Park was charged Thursday by the U.S. Attorney's Office with allegedly accepting millions of dollars from the Iraqi government while he operated in the United States as an unregistered agent for Baghdad.


Strong said Park, a native of North Korea, had advised him on Korean issues. The Canadian denied any involvement in the oil-for-food program.


"Indeed I cannot recall a single instance in which I had any contact or discussion on the program with any of the officials responsible," Strong said.


Park was accused of telling a government witness in 1995 that he needed millions of dollars from Iraq to "take care" of his expenses and his people. The witness believed that that meant a person identified in court papers only as "U.N. Official No. 1."


In 1996, another high-ranking U.N. official attended a restaurant meeting with Park, an Iraqi official and the government witness. After "U.N. Official 2" left, Park allegedly claimed that he had used a $5 million guarantee from the Iraqi government to fund business dealings with "U.N. Official 2," court papers said.


There was no hint in Strong's statement about whether he is "U.N. Official 2."


Strong had been involved in U.N. environment and development issues since 1970, and in January 1997, was appointed a senior adviser to Annan on reforming the United Nations.


He was also a former adviser to the president of the World Bank and has led several power companies in Canada, including Petro-Canada, Ontario Hydro and the Power Corporation of Canada.


Park told the government witness in 1997 or 1998 that he had invested about $1 million that he received from Iraq in a Canadian company established by the son of "U.N. Official 2," though the company failed and the money was lost.


In his statement, Strong said he is willing to give any further information to investigators "so as to have this cloud removed as soon as possible."


The oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 to 2003, was created to help Iraqis cope with U.N. sanctions imposed after Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. It let the Iraqi government sell limited — and eventually unlimited — amounts of oil primarily to buy humanitarian goods.


But Saddam chose the buyers of Iraqi oil and the sellers of humanitarian goods. In a bid to end the sanctions, Saddam allegedly gave former government officials, activists, journalists and U.N. officials vouchers for oil to be resold at a profit.


Park's name had surfaced in the media many years before.


In the 1970s, he was at the center of what became known as the "Koreagate" scandals in which he was accused of trying to buy influence in Congress.

The indictment against Park says that Park arranged a meeting with "U.N. Official 1" and two Iraqi officials in Geneva around June 1993.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the U.N. secretary-general at the time, was in Geneva in June 1993 with some U.N. staff for a meeting with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.

They discussed Baghdad's reluctant compliance with cease-fire terms from the first Gulf War.


LINK

[styky]

Strong denies part in oil-for-food scandal
Last Updated Tue, 19 Apr 2005 09:56:23 EDT
CBC News
UNITED NATIONS - Maurice Strong, a prominent Canadian businessman and trusted adviser to Prime Minister Paul Martin, has acknowledged having ties to a South Korean man charged in the United Nations oil-for-food scandal.

Maurice Strong outside the Security Council room at U.N. headquarters in New York, in 2003. (AP photo)
Strong issued a statement Monday confirming that in 1997, Tongsun Park invested "on a normal commercial basis in an energy company with which I was associated that had no relationship with Iraq."

He did not name the company.

Strong, who is UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's envoy to North Korea, also said Park continues to advise him on North Korean issues.

Park was charged last week with being an unregistered agent for Iraq in the United States during the 1990s. At the time, the country was under international sanctions for starting the 1991 Gulf War by invading Kuwait.


FROM APRIL 14, 2005: Texan, 3 others charged in oil-for-food scandal

In an indictment that was unsealed Friday, U.S. prosecutors said Park received millions from the Iraqi government to bribe UN officials in a scheme to undermine the oil-for-food program.

They also said Park invested $1 million in a Canadian company set up by the son of a senior UN official, whom they did not name, in either 1997 or 1998.

Park has also been linked to former secretary general Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

'No involvement,' Strong insists

In Monday's statement, Strong denied any part in the scandal that saw money diverted from humanitarian aid in Iraq to pay millions in kickbacks to former leader Saddam Hussein's regime.

"Having served UN secretaries general since 1970 in several advisory and executive capacities, I have had no involvement or connection whatsoever with the UN's Iraqi oil-for-food program or any other of its Iraqi activities," the statement said.

Strong is known as "Mr. UN" and is rumoured to be interested in the world body's top job when Annan leaves.


FROM DEC. 3, 2003: Canadian environmentalist Maurice Strong wins U.S. science medal

He is also one of the world's most respected environmental voices, organizing the first UN Earth Summit in Stockholm in 1972 and heading the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

A former head of Ontario Hydro and PetroCanada, Strong gave the young Paul Martin his first major job.

In 1966, fresh out of university, Martin accepted a job with Strong's Power Corp. and moved to Montreal.

Strong wants to 'remove the cloud'

UN officials say Strong is in the Dominican Republic recovering from an illness and cannot be reached for interviews.

He is offering to make himself available to the Volcker Commission looking into the scandal and to U.S. prosecutors to "remove the cloud as soon as possible," however.

Park is believed to be in hiding in Japan.

Reports emerging from Tokyo over the weekend said he is trying to arrange a deal with U.S. officials to trade what he knows about UN corruption in return for immunity from prosecution.


LINK

[styky]

'The Maustro' admits connection to `Koreagate Man'
by Judi McLeod, Editor,
Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Kofi Annan’s special envoy to Korea Maurice Strong admits he knows "Koreagate Man" Tongsun Park and even that Park invested in an "energy company" with which he was associated in 1997--but flatly denies any involvement in the scandal-ridden UN oil-for-food program.

U.S. federal prosecutors are on the hunt for Park, who was charged on Thursday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with allegedly accepting million of dollars from the Iraqi government while operating in the U.S. as an unregistered agent for Baghdad.

"Park was accused of telling a cooperating government witness in 1995 that he needed $10 million from Iraq to "take care" of his expenses and his people (DOW JONES NEWSWIRE). "The witness believed that that meant a person identified in court papers only as `U.N. Official No. 1."

Strong, got his start in the world of business by Paul Desmarais’ Montreal-based Power Corporation. Desmarais is a key figure in Paribas BNP, Saddam’s favourite bank, officials of which are said to be "cooperating with investigators" in the oil-for-food probe.

Strong also happens to be a power behind the throne in Canadian politics as senior advisor to adscam, scandal-plagued Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin--also launched into the business world by Power Corp.

As Kofi Annan’s special envoy to Korea, Strong returns from his Korean trips to openly criticize the U.S. Strong told CBS’s Dan Rather on May 26, 2004: "The single most important thing that comes out of my discussions there is the strong conviction that the country is threatened by the United States. They contend that this is the reason, and the only reason, that they require nuclear weapons."

Now that Strong’s association with "Koreagate man" Park Tong-sun is out in the open, speculation about further oil-for-food players is the talk around UN water coolers.

Not lost on many is that Strong was handpicked by Annan for UN reform long before oil-for-food investigations got underway.

In denying involvement in the oil-for-food program, Strong said, "Indeed, I cannot recall a single instance in which I had any contact or discussion on the program with any of the officials responsible."



Park, who starred in the "Koreagate" influence peddling scandal in the 1970s, is back for Act 11.

"The businessman once dubbed the "Onassis of the Orient" is accused of

lobbying in the U.S. without registering as a lobbyist, which carries (a penalty) of up to five years in jail and US$250,000 in fines." (www.chosun.com).

"Federal prosecutors in New York said Thursday that Park took US$2 million from Saddam Hussein’s regime to lobby for Iraq, which was under economic sanctions, to be allowed to sell some of its oil abroad under the U.N. "oil-for-food" program.

Park received money sent through the residence of the Iraqi U.N. delegation in New York, most of it in cash. Prosecutors presume that at least some of it was used to bribe a high-ranking U.N. official. Three employees of the Houston, Texas oil company Bayoil USA were also booked for providing kickbacks to the Iraqi government in connection with the oil-for-food program.

In the "Koreagate" scandal of the 1970s, Park paid millions of dollars in campaign contributions and bribes to U.S. politicians, causing schockwaves to reverberate, not just within the U.S., but also in the dicey Korea-U.S. relationship.

The irony of the man who turned the U.S. political scene on its head in 1976 returning 30 years later, only this time coming under investigation by federal prosecutors, was pointed out by the Korean mainline media.

Said to be living in Seoul, Park visits Washington twice a year, according to Kang Eun-cheol, who helped Park in Washington. Park’s most recent trip was only last December.

While on American soil, the "Onassis of the Orient" is hardly the Invisible Man. When in Washington, the high-flying Park hosts friends at the toney Georgetown Club.

Described as a big-talking braggart, Park recently told Korean reporters he was involved in a number of implausible projects, including a Russian energy project, the expansion of the Panama Canal, cleaning up Chernobyl and a Taiwanese submarine building project.

Meanwhile, there seem to be bigger fish to be caught if U.S. federal prosecutors only spread their net.

LINK

[Wlyonmackenzie]

No mention of Mo Strong's connection to Chretien, Martin and the Canadian PMO in the article though...or did I miss that?

No not yet...we have to sweat Moe first....this raggedy assed commie will give up his mother if means keeping some of his holdings safe from IRS confiscation....you can bank that old Strong pals from Powercor ( which was deeply involved in the scandal) were placing a lot of personal side bets in Moe's insider's gamble. Hell he was asked to sit as a head advisor in the PMO by Martin before Martin even won the leadership...he hired Martin at Powercor and thay have had 20 years of mutually inveted projects together....Chretien is dirty from the Desmarais side of the scam...Martin in all likelihood was making private deals in the scam through his pal Moe.

It will come out when they sweat Moe....as a matter of fact it looks like the Bush admin has had it with him ...he has IRS problems on his US properties and business dealings.

[littleharbour]

If I was Mr. Park's family I'd be taking out a huge insurance contract on him, because with this much at stake there may be some people considering taking out another type of contract And I wonder if Mr. Strong is busy checking out the short list of countries with no US extradition treaty.

[Wlyonmackenzie]

If I was Mr. Park's family I'd be taking out a huge insurance contract on him, because with this much at stake there may be some people considering taking out another type of contract And I wonder if Mr. Strong is busy checking out the short list of countries with no US extradition treaty.

Moe is an "honorary" citizen of Communist China...but I don't think they have the retirement programs/homes he's used to.

[littleharbour]

If I was Mr. Park's family I'd be taking out a huge insurance contract on him, because with this much at stake there may be some people considering taking out another type of contract And I wonder if Mr. Strong is busy checking out the short list of countries with no US extradition treaty.

Moe is an "honorary" citizen of Communist China...but I don't think they have the retirement programs/homes he's used to.

Actually you'd be amazed at how well the well-connected friends of the communist regime, not to mention the businessmen, live in China. I saw some villas in Shanghai that would put Toronto's Bridle Path to shame.

[rbacon]

To show you how corrupt the Canadian System is Desmarais, Strong Chretien et al are still Privy Council Members. Look it up, what a list of parasites. UN studying Strong's ties to businessman charged in oil-for-food scandal

By NICK WADHAMS




UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The UN is studying whether it was appropriate for its envoy for North Korea to maintain business ties with a South Korean businessman accused of wrongdoing in the oil-for-food scandal, officials said Tuesday.

Secretary General Kofi Annan said he had not known about the ties between Canadian businessman Maurice Strong and Tongsun Park, a native of North Korea and citizen of South Korea who was also accused in the 1970s of trying to buy influence in Congress. Strong is the UN pointman on stalled talks aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programs.

"The allegations have just come out, and he has no plans to go to the region tomorrow," Annan told reporters Tuesday. Annan noted that Strong was not a full-time staff member, but did not elaborate.

UN officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said senior UN staff have recommended that Strong be suspended.

Strong denies any involvement with the $64 billion US humanitarian program in Iraq and has pledged to co-operate with an oil-for-food investigation led by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker. Volcker's committee is investigating whether Strong had any ties to the program.

But his admitted ties with Park are raising questions about a possible conflict of interest with his UN role. Strong acknowledged Monday that Park invested in an energy company he was associated with in 1997.

Stephane Dujarric, a UN spokesman, said the world body was studying whether it was appropriate for Strong to have ties with Park given that Strong, a well-known businessman with longtime association with the UN, was an envoy to the region.

"It's a decision by the UN administration to decide whether or not that is appropriate," Dujarric said.

Park was known to have been close to former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, according to UN staff.

"He was a friend - I assume still is a friend - of former Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali," said Joseph Verner Reed, an adviser to Annan and former special representative for public affairs.

Reed echoed comments by Gillian Sorensen, the former UN assistant secretary general for external relations, who told The Associated Press on Monday that she recalled at least two occasions when Park met Boutros-Ghali.

Park was thrust back into the spotlight Thursday, when the U.S. Attorney's Office accused him of accepting millions of dollars from the Iraqi government while he allegedly operated in the United States as an unregistered agent for Baghdad, lobbying for oil-for-food.

Committee spokesmen would not comment on whether they had already interviewed Strong in connection with oil-for-food, but in a statement said his "readiness to co-operate" was welcomed.

The oil-for-food program, which ran from 1996 to 2003, was created to help Iraqis cope with UN sanctions imposed after Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. It let the Iraqi government sell limited - and eventually unlimited - amounts of oil primarily to buy humanitarian goods.

But Saddam chose the buyers of Iraqi oil and the sellers of humanitarian goods. In a bid to end the sanctions, Saddam allegedly gave former government officials, activists, journalists and UN officials vouchers for oil to be resold at a profit.

The criminal complaint could be damaging to the UN because it mentions that Park had met several times with two unidentified UN officials in apparent efforts to gain their support on oil-for-food.

According to a government witness, Park claimed that he had used a $5 million guarantee from the Iraqi government to fund business dealings with "UN Official 2," court papers said.

Park also allegedly told the government witness in 1997 or 1998 that he had invested about $1 million that he received from Iraq in a Canadian company established by the son of "UN Official 2," though the company failed and the money was lost.

The U.S. complaint calls for the arrest of Park, who was reported to be hiding in Tokyo and considering a U.S. plea bargain offer, according to South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo daily.