Saturday 29 August 2009

$40m U.N. Trio In Court


Two ex-United Nations consultants and a solicitor, accused of plotting to collect bribes in relation to a massive $40m pharmaceutical contract to an impoverished third-world country,have appeared at Southwark Crown Court.

Dutchmen Sijbrandus Arthur Scheffer,56, of West View Road, Swanley, Kent and Guido Gerbrant Bakker,35, of De Voortweg, Tandon, Netherlands are former consultants to the United Nations Development Programme.

Solicitor Patrick Neale Orr,41, of Beaconsfield Road, Surbiton, Surrey, is a partner in a West End Firm.

The three men appeared following a two-year investigation by the City of London Police’s Overseas Anti-Corruption Unit in relation to Global Fund Aid money overseen by the United Nations Development Programme and earmarked for the Democratic Republic of Congo.

All three are charged with conspiring together to corruptly obtain consideration between January 1, 2002 and December 31, 2007 in regard to ensuring the award of a $40m contract to supply pharmaceuticals to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

They also face two charges of conspiring to money launder between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2007 in relation to $400,000 and an unspecified sum.

Finally, all three are also charged with fraudulent trading between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2007 in relation to H & C Consultants Ltd which traded for a fraudulent purpose, namely money laundering.

The trial, expected to last four months in Autumn 2010, involves 50,000 pages of documents, 7,000 exhibits and witnesses from the U.N. and overseas.

All three were bailed unconditionally to a date to be fixed.

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