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Alexander Yakovlev was a long-serving tenured member of the United Nations procurement department who was involved in the Oil-for-Food Programme scandal and had other allegations of impropriety.
Yakovlev worked in the UN Secretariat since 1985. In 1993, Yakovlev signed a permanent contract with the UN as a private individual (without secondment by the Russian Federation). [1]
Yakovlev resigned on June 23, 2005. On August 8, 2005, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan waived the diplomatic immunity of Alexander Yakovlev upon a request from the U.S. Attorney's Office, and Yakovlev apparently had been taken into custody, said Mark Malloch Brown, Annan's chief of staff. Yakovlev's case (1:2005-cr-00819) was assigned to Southern District of New York.
The same day he pleaded guilty to wire fraud under the Oil-for-Food Programme, making him the first U.N. official to face criminal charges in connection with the scandal-tainted operation. He was released under bond of $400,000.
Alexander Yakovlev also pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of wire fraud and money laundering for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from U.N. contractors in his work outside oil-for-food. He could have faced up to 20 years in prison for each of the three counts. His Brooklyn-based criminal lawyer Arkady L. Bukh said it could take several years until Yakovlev was sentenced. On December 22, 2010 he was sentenced to time served, 2 years of supervised release and was ordered to forfeit $900,000. [2] [3]
The diplomat was accused by the investigators of taking nearly $1 million in bribes, which also includes alleged illicit dealings with Compass Group PLC's subsidiary Eurest Support Services (ESS) and its terminated CEO Peter R. Harris and senior executive Andy Seiwert.
Yakovlev is alleged to have conducted himself improperly in 1996 when he indirectly tried to get bribes from Société Générale de Surveillance S.A.
The Oil-for-Food Programme (OIP) was established by the United Nations in 1995 to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary Iraqi citizens without allowing Iraq to boost its military capabilities.
Benon Vahe Sevan was the head of the United Nations' Oil-for-Food Programme, established in 1996 and charged with preventing Iraq's government from using the proceeds from oil exports for anything but food, medicine and other items to benefit the civilian population.
Compass Group plc is a British multinational contract foodservice company headquartered in Chertsey, England. It is the largest contract foodservice company in Europe, ahead of Sodexo, employing over 500,000 people. It serves meals in locations including offices and factories, schools, universities, hospitals, major sports and cultural venues, mining camps, correctional facilities and offshore oil platforms. Compass Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and is also a Fortune Global 500 company.
Tongsun Park was a South Korean lobbyist. He was involved in two political money-related scandals: Koreagate scandal in the 1970s, and the Oil-for-Food Program scandal of the 2000s. Park had a reputation as the "Asian Great Gatsby".
Operation Ill Wind was a three-year investigation launched in 1986 by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation into corruption by U.S. government and military officials, and private defense contractors. Charles "Chuck" Duff was the sole Air Force Action Officer responsible for developing, coordinating and implementing Air Force actions relating to the Department of Justice's "Ill Wind" procurement fraud investigation. Government officials, private individuals and companies were eventually convicted of various crimes including nine government officials, 69 Washington consultants and 7 military contractors, as well as executives at GE, Boeing and United Technologies.
Eurest Support Services (ESS) is a subsidiary of the catering company Compass Group PLC specializing in harsh-environment large-scale food service and facilities management. Its primary clients are military forces and other security services, major defense contractors, and construction, mining, and oil exploration and production facilities worldwide.
Kаzаkhgаtе refers to the scandal surrounding James Giffen, an American businessman and former advisor of Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Corruption is an anti-social attitude awarding improper privileges contrary to legal and moral norms and impairs the authorities' capacity to secure the welfare of all citizens. Corruption in Nigeria is a constant phenomenon. In 2012, Nigeria was estimated to have lost over $400 billion to corruption since its independence.
The investigations in Jack Abramoff led to several plea agreements by those involved, including Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH). Abramoff himself also pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges, including tax fraud and bribing public officials. Abramoff's activities also became an issue that many Democratic candidates raised in the November 2006 House and Senate elections, as the challengers painted the incumbent Republican Congress as corrupted by Abramoff and his powerful allies. On March 29, 2006, Abramoff was sentenced to five years and ten months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of more than $21 million.
The Oil-for-Food Program Hearings were held by the U.S Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations beginning in 2004 to investigate abuses of the United Nations (UN) Oil-for-Food Programme in which the economically sanctioned country of Iraq was intended to be able to sell limited amounts of oil in exchange for vital food and medicine for its population.
Operation Big Coon Dog was an investigation by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into alleged corruption surrounding the use of federal and state disaster recovery funds by public officials in Buchanan County, Virginia, United States, following severe flooding in the town of Hurley in May 2002. The investigation resulted in the criminal conviction of sixteen people, including several public officials and other government employees, on charges of bribery and fraud. It has been called the largest public corruption case in western Virginia in decades and a step towards uncovering a "dark culture of corruption in Buchanan County".
Operation Bid Rig was a long-term investigation into political corruption in New Jersey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2014.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is an agency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which operates as an independent customs service under the supervisory oversight of the Nigerian Ministry of Finance, responsible for the collection of customs revenue, facilitation of both national and international trade, anti-smuggling and border security activities.
Arkady L. Bukh is an American criminal defense attorney. He is best known for representing Azamat Tazhayakov, a college student charged with conspiring to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede a terrorism investigation in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing.
AtkinsRéalis Group Inc., previously known as SNC-Lavalin Group Inc., is a Canadian company based in Montreal that provides engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services to various industries, including mining and metallurgy, environment and water, infrastructure, and clean energy. AtkinsRéalis was the largest construction company, by revenue, in Canada, as of 2021.
In 2015, United States federal prosecutors disclosed cases of corruption by officials and associates connected with the Fédération internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of association football, futsal and beach soccer.
Alejandro Burzaco is an Argentine businessman, the former CEO of Torneos y Competencias, a sports marketing company.
The San Francisco Public Works corruption scandal is an ongoing investigation by federal, state and local prosecutors and investigators into bribery and fraud involving employees and contractors working for San Francisco Public Works (SFPW), and particularly, the Department of Building Inspection (DBI). The investigation was first brought to the public's attention by the arrest in January 2020 of Mohammed Nuru, who was the Director of Public Works, by federal agents. The scandal involved multiple instances of corruption, including conflict of interest, bribery, and fraud within the DBI. Several former city officials and individuals in the construction industry were indicted and faced charges related to corrupt practices. The scandal was uncovered through audits, legal proceedings, and investigations by city authorities and federal prosecutors, ultimately leading to the exposure of widespread corruption within the department. As of December 2023, 23 employees, contractors, consultants and permit expediters have been implicated in the investigation. The scandal has led to a thorough review of work on more than 5,400 buildings to determine if corruption was involved.
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