PrintMore on Kofi Annan hiding information
A second story in the Financial Times and Il Sole 24 Ore details the desperation faced by Cotecna, the Swiss consulting firm which employed Kojo Annan, and received a lucrative contract from the UN to manage part of the notoriously corrupt Oil for Food program. It seems that Kofi Annan has not fully disclosed his meetings with Cotecna, that Kojo and Corecna may have gone out of their way to hide payments, and that the law may have been violated.
Under both US and Swiss law, a non—compete agreement must be limited in time, geography and type of activity. Article 340a of the Swiss code says it cannot exceed three years, except in certain circumstances. Kojo's non—compete deal had no geographical limit and lasted more than five years.
Until August 2000, Kojo's expenses were reimbursed including his American Express bill in 1999 which was well into five figures, the FT/Il Sole have learnt.
Cotecna says payments were 'delayed reimbursement of prior year expenses, when Kojo Annan was a consultant to the company'. But documents in possession of investigators refer to expenses incurred in October, November and December 1999.
In addition, it emerged from records Cotecna and Kojo provided to congressional and UN investigators that the methods of payment changed several times.
Clarice Feldmman 3 23 05
