Additional info. July 9, 2011
New York Fed Statement on Close Cooperation with Iraq Audit Body
NEW YORK-The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has cooperated closely with the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction's (SIGIR) audits of the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI).
NEW YORK—The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has cooperated closely with the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction's ( SIGIR ) audits of the Development Fund for Iraq ( DFI ). The release of information about foreign central bank accounts requires approval of the account holder, which the New York Fed has routinely obtained in earlier DFI audits, providing the requested data as promptly as possible. The shipments of cash from the New York Fed to Iraq during the tenure of the Coalition Provisional Authority ( CPA ) have long been a matter of public record. SIGIR and the New York Fed fully expect to continue to cooperate closely as the SIGIR conducts further audits of DFI account activity.
According to Stuart W. Bowen, Jr., the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, "SIGIR and the New York Fed have enjoyed a positive and effective working relationship regarding DFI audits executed by SIGIR over the past seven years, and I look forward to continuing that relationship on future audit work."
http://media-newswire.com/release_1155361.html
June 23, 2011
Iraq probes $17 billion in reconstruction funds
Iraqis are demanding to know what happened to $17 billion in Iraqi money that was part of a US-administered fund for rebuilding the country after years of war and sanctions that now cannot be accounted for properly.
But US officials trying to trace the funds say the Iraqi government is not cooperating and has so far not allowed them access to bank records they need to determine if any of the money was misused.
The use of reconstruction money has been a constant sore point for Iraqis, who despite the billions spent here still suffer from electricity outages, hospitals without the proper equipment and a lack of schools.
The United States was responsible for administering the Development Fund for Iraq, which was set up after the 2003 invasion with money from Iraqi oil sales, frozen Saddam Hussein-era assets and money left over from the UN oil-for-food program. The money from the development fund was generally disbursed through Iraqi government agencies, raising questions about their own role in supervising the money trail.
Separately, the US also spent billions of its own money on Iraq reconstruction projects. The US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the American watchdog for reconstruction funds, has issued two reports about the use of money from the Development Fund for Iraq showing that as much as $17 billion cannot be accounted for properly.
The Iraqi parliament's integrity committee has been investigating how the money was spent and in recent weeks received reports from the Iraqi Supreme Auditing Board indicating huge irregularities. "In some cases, we went to see some projects on the ground, but we were shocked to see that they do not even exist and there is only empty fields," said the head of parliament's integrity committee, Bahaa al-Araji.
In a statement Wednesday, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said a committee to be headed by one of the country's deputy prime ministers will investigate all money spent under the Coalition Provisional Authority, the US body that ran Iraq for a year after the invasion. Al-Dabbagh told The Associated Press that the Iraqi government intends to start talks with US officials regarding the fate of the money in the development fund.
The US inspector general for Iraq reconstruction, Stuart W. Bowen Jr., said to figure out what happened to the money, his office needs access to bank records at the New York Federal Reserve Bank, which held the development funds, and the Central Bank of Iraq.
But it has yet to get the Iraqi government's approval. "We need the government of Iraq's cooperation regarding the bank records that will reveal the use of this part of the DFI," he said. "We have not been provided access to the records, and we have asked." Bowen said his office is carrying out a third audit of the DFI funds that it expects to complete by September.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-248317-iraq-probes-17-billion-in-reconstruction-funds.html
