House of Paine

volcker report : typical trans nat monkey shines

 the x ray like  report
 sure does   blacken
  a few  thousand 
       trans nat  eyes 
  
 not a surprise of course

but revealing 
   
  eh???

    this drama 
        of Saddam gate 
          
         oh to see it  enacted
         scene by scene.......
                  

 a chance to penetrate 
     the  black-boxes  
            that encase
  the key links
    in the  trade and finance  network
    that is globalization

   penetrate  and catch 
   a few thousand  transnats 
              at their roachery ....


 caveat candide:

don't make the mistake
of thinking
this was the system
out of its humor 
             running along
                un accustomed trails ...

this was prolly close
enough  
        to bizz as usual

u wouldn't wanna live 
               on the difference 
 
                      


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wash post :


"UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 27 -- 
More than 2,400 businesses
, including scores of international shell companies 
and major blue-chip European firms 
such as Siemens and DaimlerChrysler
 paid nearly $1.8 billion 
in illegal kickbacks 
to the former Iraqi government 
through the U.N. oil-for-food program
 according to a report 
by a U.N. committee investigating misconduct"

 

"Iraq persuaded almost half 
of its 4,500 trading partners 
in more than 60 countries 
to circumvent U.N. sanctions 
by secretly channeling kickbacks 
into Baghdad-controlled Jordanian banks"
 
"The report also shows 
how French and Russian diplomats
 business executives
, U.N. officials and anti-sanctions advocates
 including a former Vatican official
, either solicited oil trade 
from Iraqi officials 
on behalf of companies 
or benefited financially from the program"






"Texas oil tycoon Oscar S. Wyatt Jr.,
 the former chairman of Coastal Corp.,
 pleaded not guilty Thursday 
in New York to charges 
that he paid bribes. 
The report says Wyatt-controlled firms 
paid more than $7 million 
in illegal surcharges. 
Wyatt has denied wrongdoing through his attorney".


" The report notes that numerous U.S. companies
 prevented from directly entering the trade
 established subsidiaries 
in France to do business in Iraq"



"The report challenges assumptions 
that most of the kickbacks involved
 illegal oil surcharges
 It asserts that the vast majority 
of kickbacks were obtained 
through the sale of food
 medicine and other humanitarian goods
 to Iraq

"Iraq disguised its kickbacks 
through inflated "transportation fees" 
and "after sales services charges."

"Three subsidiaries of Siemens AG 
-- in France, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates --
 paid more than $1.6 million 
in such fees on the sale 
of street lights, transformers,
 circuit breakers and other equipment,"





"The report also sharply criticizes BNP-Paribas, 
a Paris-based bank
 that managed billions of dollars in funds 
for the U.N. program,
 BNP divided its "loyalties" 
by representing many of Iraq's major traders.
 The bank often disguised 
the role of its clients
 including Marc Rich & Co. Investment AG
 by using shell companies 
to trade with Iraq"