A senior U.N. official solicited and received allocations of oil from Iraq for a trading company while directing the U.N. oil-for-food program, a key investigative report said on Thursday. The official, Benon Sevan, engaged in conduct that was "ethically improper and seriously undermined the integrity of the United Nations," said the report by Paul Volcker, the former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman. Volcker was appointed by the United Nations to lead a probe of the now-defunct $67 billion program. The report did not say that Sevan, a Cypriot, personally received funds but said he lobbied on behalf of the African Middle East Petroleum Company, a small Swiss-based trading firm. "Mr. Sevan repeatedly solicited allocations of oil under program. Iraqi officials provided such allocations for the purpose of obtaining Mr. Sevan's support on several issues" such as funds for repairing Iraq's crumbling oil facilities, said the report. --More 2321 Local Time 2021 GMT
