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UNITED NATIONS
NATIONS UNIES
This report is protected under the provisions of
ST/SGB/273, paragraph 18, of 7 September 1994"
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
OFFICE OF INTERNAL OVERSIGHT SERVICES
INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION
REDACTED
REPORT OF INVESTIGATION
ID CASE NO. 0553/03
16 December 2004
1
R
EPORT INTO THE ALLEGATION OF FRAUDULENTLY REACTIVATING CHEQUES
ID
C
ASE
N
O
.
0553/03
T
ABLE OF
C
ONTENTS
___________________________________________________________
Page No.
I. I
NTRODUCTION
3
II.
A
PPLICABLE
L
AW
3
III.
M
ETHODOLOGY
4
IV.
B
ACKGROUND
I
NFORMATION
4
V.
I
NVESTIGATIVE
D
ETAILS
5
Interviews with Budget/Finance and IT Staff Members 5
Interviews with Official of the Two Local Banks 7
Interviews with the Two Payees 8
Interview with an Official of the US Embassy in Addis Ababa 9
Interview with the Wife of staff member 10
Interview with a retired staff member
11
VI.
E
VIDENCE
:
F
INDINGS OF
F
ACTS
12
VII.
C
ONCLUSIONS
14
VIII.
R
ECOMMENDATIONS
15
2
I. INTRODUCTION
1.
The Investigations Division of the Office of Internal
Oversight Services (OIOS) received a complaint that ten
duplicate Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) cheques were
fraudulently issued by a Cash Office staff member and
subsequently cashed resulting in a loss to the Organization of
$179,365. When the report of the incident was sent to the
Controller by ECA on 4 December 2003 it was also copied to OIOS.
II. APPLICABLE LAW
2. Article 383 - Material Forgery - of the Ethiopian Penal
Code provides that ÐWhosoever, with intent to injure the rights
or interests of another, or to procure for himself or another
any undue advantage: (a) falsely executes an instrument, such
as, a writing a deed or any document or material means
constituting proof of, or capable of proving, a fact material,
or susceptible of becoming material, to legal proceedings - is
punishable with rigorous imprisonment not exceeding five years.
3. Article 386 Î Use of Forged Instruments - of the Ethiopian
Penal Code provides that ÐWhosoever, not being a party to the
forgery, knowingly makes use of a forged instrument or of an
instrument falsified by a third party, is punishable under
Article 383.Ñ
4. Article 630 Î Theft - of the Ethiopian Penal Code provides
that ÐWhosoever, with intent to obtain or to procure to a third
person an unlawful enrichment, abstracts a movable or a thing
detached from an immovable, the property of another, whether by
taking and carrying or by direct appropriation, or by having it
pass indirectly to his own estate - is punishable with simple
imprisonment, or, according to the gravity of the case, with
rigorous imprisonment not exceeding five years.Ñ
5. Article 641 Î Breach of Trust - of the Ethiopian Penal Code
further stipulates (1) ÐWhosoever, with intent to obtain or to
procure to a third person an unjustifiable enrichment, (a)
appropriates, in whole or in part, a thing which is the property
of another and which had been entrusted to him for a specific
purpose
,
is punishable with simple imprisonment, or, according to
the gravity of the case, with rigorous imprisonment not
exceeding five years.Ñ
3
6. Article 647 Î Receiving - of the Ethiopian Penal Code
stipulates that (1) ÐWhosoever receives a thing, which he knows
or has reason to believe is the proceeds of an offence committed
against property by another, or acquires the thing, or receives
it on loan, as a gift, in pledge or in any manner whatsoever, or
consumes it, retains or hides it, re-sells it or assists in its
negotiation, is punishable with simple imprisonment, or,
according to the gravity of the case, with rigorous imprisonment
not exceeding five years and fine.Ñ
7
. Staff Rule 110.1 stipulates that ÐFailure by a staff member
to comply with his or her obligations under the Charter of the
United Nations, the Staff Regulations and Staff Rules or other
relevant administrative issuances, or to observe the standards
of conduct expected of an international civil servant, may
amount to unsatisfactory conduct within the meaning of staff
regulation 10.2, leading to the institution of disciplinary
proceedings and the imposition of disciplinary measures for
misconduct.Ñ
III. METHODOLOGY
8. OIOS investigation of this matter included interviewing of
staff members, local bank officials, an official at the US
Embassy in Addis Ababa, the wife of the concerned staff member
and a retired ECA staff member suspected to have facilitated
encashment of the fraudulent cheques. Relevant documents,
including the ten forged cheques were also obtained, reviewed
and analyzed. A visit was also made to the two local banks
where the forged cheques were deposited and cashed.
IV. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
9. The concerned staff member worked at ECA for over ten years
in the Cash Office. On 1 December 2003, while on leave, he
applied for a visa with the US Embassy in Addis Ababa which was
declined. Information obtained from his wife indicated that
after the refusal of the visa, he went to Nairobi and obtained a
US visa. The US Mission in Nairobi has stated that it did not
issue a visa to the subject.
10. On 18 December 2003, the staff member purportedly sent a
fax to Mr. Abraham Indieka, Chief Budget and Finance Section
from ÐKinkosÑ, an office supply chain in Sandy Springs, Atlanta,
Georgia, USA. In the fax, the staff member informed Mr. Indieka
4
that he had worked for ECA for 12 years and that he had found a
better job in the USA and was therefore terminating his services
with ECA as from 15 December 2003. It is unconfirmed that the
subject traveled to USA as OIOS has received reports that he has
been seen in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
11. The retired staff member who endorsed and deposited the
forged cheques into his bank accounts retired as an ECA staff
member on 30 April 1999. He joined ECA in February 1969 as a
driver and later became a mechanic in the General Services
Section. His main business interests now include lending money
on interest at black market rates, real estate and
transportation. His office is located behind the rear gate
entrance of ECA.
12. In 1997, before the staff member retired from the
Organization, he was involved in another cheque fraud case (ID
Case No. 0109/97). In collusion with another retired ECA staff
member, they forged four ECA cheques and defrauded the
Organization of $30,263.78. No disciplinary action was taken
against them since they had separated from the Organization
before completion of the investigation and ECA decided not to
pursue either of these offenders through the Ethiopian criminal
justice system.
V. INVESTIGATIVE DETAILS
Interviews with Budget/Finance and IT Staff Members
13. While conducting a banking reconciliation exercise in
November 2003, Ms. Linda Ryan (Chief of Accounts) and Ms.
Birtuken Kebede observed that there were duplicate payments that
did not make sense. They found duplicate payments of a cheque
made to the same payee for exactly the same amount, however, the
duplicate cheques would bear different signature endorsements
but in the name of the same payee. The duplicate cheques were
all dated 23 August 2003 (which was a Saturday) and were
deposited at two local banks in Addis Ababa - NIB International
Bank and the Wegagen Bank. Consequently, the cheques were sent
by the local banks to JP Morgan Chase in New York for clearance
and the ECA account with Chase was debited.
14. Mr. Dawit Tsadik - Information Technology team leader,
explained that a mechanism existed in the Finance Unit of ECA
where a cheque could be duplicated (re-activated) if the
5
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