AP News, December 21st, 2007
Six former executives of wheat exporter AWB Ltd. are facing civil trial over millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime, the latest round in a scandal surrounding the U.N.'s now discredited oil-for-food program.
On Friday, a newspaper called for more investigation into government involvement in the scandal.
Australia's corporate regulator announced this week it had launched civil action against the former executives who face millions of dollars in fines for alleged breaches of corporate law.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) allege the six had known or should have known about the corrupt payments which breached the rules of the U.N. program.
A government-commissioned inquiry found in November last year that AWB paid more than $220 million in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime between 1999-2003 to secure lucrative wheat contracts.
In the report, former judge Terence Cole recommended a range of criminal charges against several former executives. No criminal charges have yet been laid.
The AWB scam was the single largest uncovered by a U.N. investigation of the oil-for-food program by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, which named more than 2,200 companies accused of colluding with Saddam's regime to bilk the oil-for-food program of $1.8 billion.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, whose party was elected on Nov. 24, has said he will take advice on whether to reopen the inquiry, giving it scope to examine the role of former Prime Minister John Howard's government which was first elected in 1996.
Following the ASIC announcement of court action Wednesday, the influential national newspaper, The Australian, said in an editorial Friday that another inquiry was needed to answer "whether it was incompetence or worse that prevented the Australian government from taking action to stop" the corrupt payments.
The newspaper said if the inquiry were not reopened, a Senate inquiry should be held.
"A Senate inquiry should be held to explore to what extent he public service was compromised and what can be done to stop a similar scandal from happening in the future," the newspaper said.
