Report: U.N. official diverted funds

NEW YORK | An internal U.N. investigation has sharply criticized the head of the organization’s “good governance” division, finding he has diverted funds donated by the Greek government to improperly pay contractors and mismanaged a $2.8 million trust fund meant to foster transparency and accountability.

The report by the Procurement Task Force of the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) suggests that Guido Bertucci, director of the U.N. Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM), personally reimburse the trust fund for misused funds and be reprimanded for favoritism and other violations in hiring consultants.

The Washington Times obtained a copy of the report, which was completed in April.

Mr. Bertucci, 60, is scheduled to retire from the United Nations in six weeks. U.N. officials familiar with the case say he is unlikely to receive any punishment stronger than a note in his personnel file.

“The Task Force recommends that appropriate disciplinary action be considered against Mr. Bertucci, [and two others] for the violations identified herein, including … gross negligence in managing the Trust Fund Agreement, and failing to meaningfully cooperate with the investigation,” said the authors of the 91-page report.

The investigation was ordered in December 2006 by then-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in response to investigations by The Washington Times and other news outlets.

The investigation was delayed for months, the authors write, because Mr. Bertucci refused to share his personal financial information with investigators.

The resulting report was never publicly released and is still considered “strictly confidential” by the United Nations.

It was given to The Times by a person who feared the critical findings would be “buried.”

Contacted by telephone over the weekend, Mr. Bertucci said, “I have been completely cleared.”

“All the accusations against me are proven false.”

When read some critical passages of the task force report, Mr. Bertucci replied that he could not comment.

“I have only seen preliminary versions, and that cleared me completely.”

U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said the organization could not comment because the report is not yet finalized.

Technically, OIOS reports are not considered final until their recommendations are accepted or challenged by those involved.

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