Editing Oil-for-Food Programme (section)

==Abuse==
The programme also suffered from widespread [[political corruption|corruption]] and abuse. Throughout its existence, the programme was dogged by accusations that some of its profits were unlawfully diverted to the government of Iraq and to UN officials. These accusations were made in many countries, including the US and Norway.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20060822-104216-5171r.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060824020811/http://www.washtimes.com/upi/20060822-104216-5171r.htm|url-status=dead|title=This story is no longer available – Washington Times|archive-date=24 August 2006|website=The Washington Times}}</ref>

Until 2001, the money for the Oil-for-Food Programme went through [[BNP Paribas]], whose main private share-holder is Iraqi-born [[Nadhmi Auchi]], a man whose estimated worth is about $1 billion according to ''Forbes'' estimates, the 13th-richest man in Britain according to ''[[The Guardian]]''. Auchi received a 15-month suspended sentence for his involvement in the [[Elf Aquitaine#Fraud scandal (1994)|Elf scandal]], which the British newspaper called "the biggest fraud inquiry in Europe since the Second World War", saying "Elf became a private bank for its executives who spent £200 million on political favours, mistresses, jewellery, fine art, villas and apartments".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1086487,00.html ''The Guardian'' on Nadhmi Auchi] (see also [[Clearstream]] scandal)</ref> Elf, an oil company, merged with [[Total S.A.|TotalFina]] to become [[Total S.A.]] in 2003.

=== Misapplication of funding ===
According to information from [[Aqila al-Hashimi]], who was senior bureaucrat with the Oil-for-Food Programme in Iraq, of the programme's total of $60 billion, "roughly 65% was actually applied to aid".<ref>[[Samantha Nutt]]. M.D. "Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Arms and Aid". McLelland & Stewart Ltd. Toronto. Canada, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-7710-5145-6}}. Page 147</ref> Over 193 so-called electrical consultants each received $15,000 per month while the electricity only worked a few hours at a time.<ref>Samantha Nutt, MD. ''Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Arms and Aid''. McLelland & Stewart Ltd. Toronto. Canada, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-7710-5145-6}}. p. 148</ref>

[[Benon Sevan]] of [[Cyprus]], who headed the programme, defended it, claiming that it had only a 2.2% administrative cost and that it was subject to more than 100 internal and external [[audit]]s. He blamed [[Security Council]] restrictions for making the situation difficult and said that 90 percent of Iraq's population relied on the programme for its monthly food basket. Sevan stonewalled efforts to review and investigate the programme.<ref>{{cite news| url-status=dead|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48225-2004Nov13?language=printer|title=Oil-for-Food Official May Have Blocked Inquiries  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120918040608/http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A48225-2004Nov13?language=printer |archive-date=2012-09-18 | newspaper=The Washington Post | access-date=2010-05-20 | first=Colum | last=Lynch}}</ref> He ordered his staff to enforce a policy that complaints about illegal payoffs should be formally filed with the [[whistleblower]]'s country, making them public and allowing Iraq to bar any whistleblowers. In 2000, [[Dileep Nair]], the UN corruption watchdog, wanted to determine the programme's level of vulnerability. Sevan and UN Deputy Secretary-General [[Louise Frechette]], rejected any such investigation, claiming that it would be too expensive to be worthwhile. UN Chef de Cabinet [[Iqbal Riza]] ordered the shredding of years' worth of documents in his office concerning the programme. He said that they were from a working file that contained copies of documents received by his office, and were purged due to lack of space, and also that the originals were held elsewhere.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,176362,00.html | publisher=Fox News | title=New U.N. Scheme: Alliance of Civilizations | date=22 November 2005 | access-date=18 April 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221194057/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,176362,00.html | archive-date=21 February 2007 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

In response to these criticisms, and to evidence acquired after the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], accusations were made that skimmed profits were being used to buy influence at the UN and with [[Kofi Annan]] himself. An investigation cleared Annan of any personal wrongdoing.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/IIC%20Final%20Report%2027Oct2005.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823070841/http://www.iic-offp.org/documents/IIC%20Final%20Report%2027Oct2005.pdf |title=Manipulation Of The Oil-For-Food Programme By The Iraqi Regime |archive-date=2013-08-23 |date=2013-08-23 |access-date=2019-07-17}}</ref>

=== Adulterated foods ===
According to an interim report released on 3 February 2005 by former Federal Reserve chairman [[Paul Volcker]]'s commission (see [[#Investigations|Investigations]] below), much of the food aid supplied under the programme "was unfit for human consumption". The report concluded that Sevan had accepted nearly $150,000 in bribes over the course of the programme, and in 2005 he was suspended from his position at the United Nations as a result of the fraud investigation.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4131602.stm | work=BBC News | title=Oil-for-food chief 'took bribes' | date=8 August 2005 | access-date=2010-05-20}}</ref>

===''Al Mada'' list===
One of the earliest allegations of wrongdoing in the programme surfaced on 25 January 2004, when ''[[al Mada]]'', a daily newspaper in Iraq, published a list of individuals and organizations alleged to have received oil sales contracts via the UN's Oil-for-Food Programme. The list came from over 15,000 documents which were reportedly found in the state-owned Iraqi oil corporation, the [[Iraq National Oil Company]], which had close links to the [[Iraqi Oil Ministry]].

Named in the list of beneficiaries were [[George Galloway]], then a British [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP), and his charity, the [[Mariam Appeal]]; former French [[Minister of the Interior (France)|Interior Minister]] [[Charles Pasqua]]; [[Shaker al-Kaffaji]], an Iraqi-American businessman; Indian Foreign Minister [[Natwar Singh]], and Bheem Singh. Many prominent Russian firms and individuals were also included on the ''al Mada'' list. Even the [[Russian Orthodox Church]] was supposedly involved in illegal oil trading.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Arnone |first1=Marco |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FyOeAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA186 |title=Corruption: Economic Analysis and International Law |last2=Borlini |first2=Leonardo S. |date=2014-05-30 |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-78100-613-9 |pages=186 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Corruption Watch: February 16, 2004 |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/1342334.html |access-date=2022-08-30 |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=11 November 2008 |language=en |quote=According to the "[[Vremya novostei]]" interview with "Al-Mada" Editor Karim, an unspecified company connected to the Russian Orthodox Church received two donations of oil, one in the amount of 3 million barrels, the second of 10.2 million barrels. The dates of those purported transactions were not provided. (It is worth noting that this combined total does not jibe with the figure of 5 million barrels allegedly given to the Russian Orthodox Church that was published in "Al-Mada" on 25 January.) / Russian Orthodox Church delegations visited Baghdad often, and one such delegation delivered a message of support for the Hussein regime from the head of the church, [[Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow|Metropolitan Aleksii II]]. The metropolitan, it should be noted, had issued a number of statements supporting Hussein over the years.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Oil-for-food aided Russians, report says |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7857167 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220529083653/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7857167 |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 May 2022 |access-date=2022-08-30 |website=NBC News |date=16 May 2005 |language=en}}</ref> The former assistant to the [[Cardinal Secretary of State|Vatican secretary of state]], Reverend [[Jean-Marie Benjamin]], is said to have received the rights to sell {{convert|4.5|Moilbbl|m3}}. George Galloway subsequently won two [[libel]] actions against the ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'' and ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'', which had reported the allegations.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3549679.stm | work=BBC News | title=Galloway accepts libel damages | date=19 March 2004 | access-date=2010-05-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Washington |first=The |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20040422-114353-8420r.htm |title=World leaders on list of oil recipients |work=The Washington Times|date=22 April 2004 |access-date=7 December 2011}}</ref>

The president of [[Oilexco]] Ltd, Arthur Millholland, whose name also appeared on the ''al Mada'' list, denied wrongdoing but confirmed that illegal surcharges were being paid to the Iraqi government by contractors.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040423/ROIL23/TPBusiness/TopStories |location=Toronto |url-status=dead 
|title=Executive says UN oil-for-food program was rife with corruption |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040515230419/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040423/ROIL23/TPBusiness/TopStories |archive-date=15 May 2004 }}</ref> Few deny{{Ww|date=January 2025}} that in Iraq, like in many third-world countries, bribes and [[Kickback (bribery)|kickbacks]] were regularly paid to the leadership in order to get contracts; however, the ''al Mada'' list does not discuss bribes paid to Iraq – it discusses bribes paid to individuals to support Iraq.

===Operation of the scheme===
The scheme is alleged to have worked in this way: individuals and organizations sympathetic to the Iraqi regime, or those just easily bribed, were offered oil contracts through the Oil-for-Food Programme. These contracts for Iraqi oil could then be sold on the open world market and the seller was allowed to keep a transaction fee, said to be between $0.15 and $0.50/barrel (0.94 and 3.14 $/m<sup>3</sup>) of oil sold. The seller was then to refund the Iraqi government a certain percentage of the commission.

Contracts to sell Iraq humanitarian goods through the Oil-for-Food Programme were given to companies and individuals based on their willingness to kick back a certain percentage of the contract profits to the Iraqi regime. Companies that sold commodities via the Oil-for-Food Programme were overcharging by up to 10%, with part of the overcharged amount being diverted into private bank accounts for Saddam Hussein and other regime officials and the other part being kept by the supplier.

The involvement of the UN itself in the scandal began in February 2004 after the name of [[Benon Sevan]], executive director of the Oil-for-Food Programme, appeared on the Iraqi Oil Ministry's documents. Sevan received vouchers for at least 11,000,000 barrels (1,700,000 m<sup>3</sup>) of oil, worth some $3.5 million in profit. Sevan denied the charges.

===BNP Paribas===
The sole bank handling funds transfers for the Oil-for-Food Programme was the New York branch of the Banque Nationale de Paris-Paribas, or [[BNP Paribas]]. This French bank was the sole bank administering the $64 billion UN programme. An investigation by the [[United States House Committee on International Relations|US House Committee on International Relations]] found that BNP Paribas made payments for goods without proof of delivery and allowed payments to third parties not identified as authorized recipients. Investigators estimate that the bank received more than $700 million in fees under the UN programme, which began in 1996 and ended after the ouster of Saddam in March 2003.

===Duelfer Report===
The [[Iraq Survey Group]], which was tasked with finding evidence of [[weapons of mass destruction]] in Iraq, found that OFF saved the Iraqi economy from decline after the imposition of sanctions. Furthermore, the Iraqi regime found that it could corrupt OFF to get [[hard currency]] that could be used to manipulate the Iraq Sanctions Committee and undermine sanctions as well as to obtain more weapons.<ref>Duelfer, vol. 1, ch. "Regime Strategic Intent", p. 1.</ref>

The final official version of the Iraq Survey Group report, known as the Duelfer Report, cited only France, Russia and China (countries who were also strongly anti-war) as violators who paid kickbacks.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}} According to the report, the top three recipients of oil included Russia (30%), France (15%), and China (10%), which are all members of the UN Security Council.<ref>Duelfer, vol. 1, ch. "Regime Finance and Procurement", p. 31.</ref> The US received 2–3% of the oil.<ref name=otterman>{{cite web|last=Otterman|first=Sharon|title=IRAQ: Oil for Food Scandal|url=http://www.cfr.org/un/iraq-oil-food-scandal/p7631|work=Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=2 November 2011|date=28 October 2005|archive-date=3 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203221649/http://www.cfr.org/un/iraq-oil-food-scandal/p7631|url-status=dead}}</ref> US recipients included [[ExxonMobil]], [[ChevronTexaco Corp.]] and the [[El Paso Corp.]]<ref name=bravin2004>{{cite news|last=Bravin|first=Jess|title=Iraq Oil-for-Food Probe Hits U.S. --- Exxon, Chevron and El Paso Are Named in CIA Report on Hussein-Era Program|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=11 October 2004|author2=John D. McKinnon|author3=Russell Gold|location=New York}}</ref>{{verify source|date=November 2011}} The list of US companies was originally censored by CIA lawyers, citing privacy issues,<ref name=lane2004>{{cite news|last=Lane|first=Charles|title=Privacy Act, Order Shielded U.S. Names on List|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16201-2004Oct7.html|access-date=2 November 2011|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=8 October 2004|author-link=Charles Lane (journalist) |page=A30}}</ref> but was later leaked.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Nationality of<br />recipients !! Oil received<br />(% of total volume)
|-
|{{flag|Russia}}
|30
|-
|{{flag|France}}
|15
|-
|{{flag|China}}
|10
|-
|{{flag|Switzerland}}
|6
|-
|{{flag|Malaysia}}
|5
|-
|{{flag|Syria}}
|6
|-
|{{flag|Jordan}}
|4
|-
|{{flag|Egypt}}
|4
|-
|Other (inc. US)
|20
|}

On 5 June 2007, the German chapter of the anti-corruption organisation [[Transparency International]] (TI) lodged a complaint with the German [[Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy]] (BMWi) against 57 German companies for allegedly paying $11.9m in kickbacks in the United Nations' Oil for Food Programme in Iraq.

===Oil coupons as bribes===
The US-funded satellite network [[Alhurra|Al Hurra]] broadcast a story on 6 January 2005 detailing allegations that Saddam's regime had bribed news reporters with oil coupons. Reporters named include [[Ahmed Mansour (journalist)|Ahmed Mansour]] of [[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]] and {{Interlanguage link|Hamida Na'na|fr}}, a writer based in France known for her pro-Saddam positions. Two types of oil coupons were used: silver coupons that entitled holders to nine million barrels of oil, and gold coupons worth more.{{vague|date=June 2016}} Hamida Naanaa is said{{who|date=June 2016}} to have received a gold coupon.<ref>[http://townhall.com/opinion/columns/guestcolumns/2005/05/17/15444.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051006111454/http://townhall.com/opinion/columns/guestcolumns/2005/05/17/15444.html|date=6 October 2005}}</ref>

===Ingersoll-Rand pays $2.5m in fines for kickbacks===

In October 2007,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2007/lr20353.htm 
|title=Litigation Release No. 20353: SEC v. Ingersoll-Rand Company Ltd., Civil Action No. 107- CV- 01995 (D.D.C.) 
|publisher=US Securities and Exchange Commission 
|date=31 October 2007 
|access-date=7 December 2011
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web
|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2007/October/07_crm_872.html 
|title=Ingersoll-Rand Agrees to Pay $2.5 Million Fine in Connection with Payment of Kickbacks Under the U.N. Oil for Food Program 
|publisher=US Department of Justice 
|date=31 October 2007 
|access-date=7 December 2011
}}</ref> the SEC brought a case against [[Ingersoll-Rand]] alleging kickbacks by three different subsidiaries to Iraqi Government officials. Ingersoll-Rand's German subsidiary [[Ingersoll-Rand ABG|ABG]], subsidiary I-R Italiana and the Irish subsidiary [[Thermo King]] paid "after-sales service fees" (ASSFs), although no bona fide services were performed. Ingersoll-Rand, without admitting or denying the allegations in the commission's complaint, consented to the entry of a final judgment permanently enjoining it from future violations of Sections 13(b)(2)(A) and 13(b)(2)(B) of the [[Securities Exchange Act of 1934]], ordering it to disgorge $1,710,034 in profits, plus $560,953 in pre-judgment interest, and to pay a civil penalty of $1,950,000. Ingersoll-Rand was also ordered to comply with certain undertakings regarding its compliance program for the [[Foreign Corrupt Practices Act]], and to pay a $2,500,000 fine pursuant to a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, Fraud Section.

===Complaints by Kurds===
The [[Kurds|Iraqi Kurds]] complained since the programme began that they were not being paid their fair share of the oil revenues. According to the guidelines set up by the Oil-for-Food Programme, the revenues were to be divided up in such a way as to protect Iraq's predominantly [[Iraqi Kurdistan|Kurdish regions]]. The allegations include claims that the [[Cairo]] office of the UN's [[World Health Organization]], run by an individual{{who|date=June 2016}} alleged to have received oil sales contracts, managed to stall the building of a new general hospital for the Kurdish city of [[Sulaymaniya]], even though the funds for the project had been available since 1998.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

===Potential Annan link===
On 14 June 2005, two 1998 memos surfaced that appeared to link [[Kofi Annan]] to Cotecna Inspection S.A. The first one described a meeting between Annan and Cotecna while the company was bidding on the programme, after which the company raised its bid. A second one mentioned that Cotecna was confident that they would get the bid due to "effective but quiet [[lobbying]]" in New York diplomatic circles. The source of the documents was a Cotecna executive.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

The Second Interim Report by the IIC confirmed that Cotecna won the Oil for Food contract fairly and based on merit. The Committee concluded that there was no link between Kofi Annan and the award of Cotecna's contract, and Cotecna has been transparent and cooperative through this investigation.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

===Alleged involvement of Russian intelligence===
According to high-ranking Russian [[Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)|SVR]] defector [[Sergei Tretyakov (intelligence officer)|Sergei Tretyakov]], the Oil-for-Food Programme was sabotaged by an undercover Russian intelligence officer, Alexander Kramar, a UN employee who set up the artificially low oil prices in 1998 to allow Saddam to use the oil vouchers as lucrative bribes. The difference between the market price and the price defined by Kramar was pocketed by people who received the vouchers from Saddam. Among the bribed were top officials from Russia, France, and China.<ref name="Comrade J">Pete Earley, "Comrade J: The Untold Secrets of Russia's Master Spy in America After the End of the Cold War", Penguin Books, 2007, {{ISBN|978-0-399-15439-3}}, pages 210–223.</ref> The biggest part of vouchers (to buy {{convert|1366|Goilbbl|m3}} of oil) went to forty-six individuals or organizations in Russia, including the [[Russian Orthodox Church]].{{citation needed|date=June 2016}} They pocketed $476 million.<ref name="Comrade J"/> Among Russians who received the money were [[Alexander Voloshin]] and [[Vladimir Zhirinovsky]]. Sergei Isakov, a friend of Voloshin, carried "bags with money" from Moscow to Baghdad taking the "earned" money as kickbacks to Saddam.<ref name="Comrade J"/>

===Alleged use for financing of Saddam Hussein regime===
[[Fox News]] broke the story that [[Alexander Yakovlev (diplomat)|Alexander Yakovlev]], a Russian official in the UN Procurement Department, was involved; he later resigned and pleaded guilty to corruption charges. The program was also linked to Ahmed Idris Nasreddin, designated as a terrorist financier by Britain, the US and according to the UN "belonging to or affiliated with [[Al-Qaeda|Al Qaeda]]." Nasreddin was removed from these lists in 2007 after he demonstrated that he had severed all business ties with [[Youssef Nada]], who co-founded the [[Al Taqwa Bank]] with him, and pledged to have no further dealings with either Nada or the bank.<ref>
{{cite web 
|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-28-na-financier28-story.html
|title=When is a terrorism figure no longer one?: In 2002, the U.S. said a businessman was aiding Al Qaeda. Now he's quietly off the blacklist 
|author=Josh Meyer 
|website=Los Angeles Times
|date=28 November 2007
|access-date=6 June 2016
}}
</ref> Petra Navigation Group was a company that was on the blacklist of firms blocked from doing business with the U.S. for sanctions-busting activities designed to help Saddam's regime.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,173039,00.html | publisher=Fox News | title=U.N. Procurement Scandal: Ties to Saddam and Al Qaeda | date=21 October 2005 | access-date=28 March 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427081238/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,173039,00.html | archive-date=27 April 2006 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

According to some sources, Saddam provided millions of dollars from the Oil-for-Food program to the [[Mujahedin-e-Khalq]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The United States and Iran: Policy Challenges and Opportunities|author=Jalil Roshandel, Alethia H. Cook|page=78|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=Amir Moosavi, Narges Bajoghli|title=Debating the Iran-Iraq War in Contemporary Iran|date=18 December 2019 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8vrDDwAAQBAJ&dq=oil-for-food+program+Mujahedin+e-Khalq&pg=PT172|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|isbn=9781351050579 }}</ref>

===Oil for wheat===
{{Main|AWB oil-for-wheat scandal}}A report by UN investigator [[Paul Volcker]] released in October 2005 found that the [[AWB Limited|Australian Wheat Board]], later [[AWB Limited]], was the biggest single source of kickbacks for the Iraqi government. In exchange for trouble-free disembarkation of wheat purchased under the Oil-for-Food Programme, the Australian Wheat Board paid 'trucking charges' totalling A$300 million to Alia. Alia is a real Jordanian trucking company, but one with no role in the distribution of Australian wheat in Iraq. Alia kept a small percentage of 'charges', and passed the remainder on to Saddam's government. The AWB was fully compensated for the charges by increases in the price paid; the payments were approved by the Australian [[Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)|Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade]]. The Australian Government commissioned judge [[Terence Cole (jurist)|Terence Cole]] to further investigate whether Australian companies had indeed paid kickbacks to the Saddam regime. The [[Cole Inquiry]] commenced in December 2005.

The [[Cole Inquiry]] has received testimony from senior Australian Government officials, including Prime Minister [[John Howard]], Deputy Prime Minister [[Mark Vaile]], Foreign Minister [[Alexander Downer]] and various officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. During the course of the inquiry numerous AWB officials have resigned, including managing director [[Andrew Lindberg]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=3&art_id=qw1139470741101B223 |title=IOL: News for South Africa and the World |access-date=9 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060103072147/http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1 |archive-date=3 January 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/31346F10-8C19-458D-8DC9-8C45C850FA7A.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220094439/http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/31346F10-8C19-458D-8DC9-8C45C850FA7A.htm|url-status=dead|title=Wheat chief quits over Iraq bribe|archive-date=20 February 2006|website=aljazeera.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0,5942,17233506,00.html|title=Archived copy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070527081247/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/printpage/0%2C5942%2C17233506%2C00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 May 2007 }}
</ref><ref>[http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17158436%5E7583,00.html]{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} 
</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17131459%5E2702,00.html|title=DFAT 'approved' Iraq wheat deals|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051105094111/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0%2C5744%2C17131459%255E2702%2C00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 November 2005|author=Patricia Karvelas|date=4 November 2005 }}
</ref> In 2009, the Australian Federal Police ended the investigation related to the scandal.<ref>
{{cite news 
|first=Caroline 
|last=Overington
|author-link=Caroline Overington 
|newspaper=The Australian
|publisher=News Limited|title=Federal police drop AWB investigation 
|date=29 August 2009
|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/latest/federal-police-drop-awb-investigation/news-story/ea331c86b1975dd25e86f594b3b9a8d1
}}
</ref>