February 10, 2005
Sydney Morning Herald

An employee at the World Meteorological Organisation, a UN affiliated agency in Geneva, stole as much as $US3 million ($A3.9 million) over three to four years in a "bigger than Ben Hur" scam.

Muhammad Hassan, a Sudanese employee, allegedly embezzled training funds according to an audit and criminal investigation by Swiss authorities into the weather agency, The New York Times reported.

As well, Hassan's death was later faked in an attempt to obtain his pension.

Luckson Ngwira, an accountant, was working late one night in July 2003 when he discovered a cheque that he had signed, but noticed that someone else had endorsed it to an unknown third party.

The article said that within half an hour he found about 25 cheques with about $US400,000 ($A519,500) in transactions directed elsewhere.

"Eventually auditors found evidence that Mr Hassan had skimmed at least $US3 million ($A3.9 million) or more than one-fifth of the agency's training budget," the Times reported Carine VanMaele, the agency's spokeswoman, as saying in an email.

The case was first reported in the media in December 2003 after the fraud was uncovered in July. In September Hassan was suspended without pay.

A month later the agency reported receiving a letter indicating that Hassan had suddenly died and a woman who claimed to be his wife presented a Sudanese death certificate and sought to claim his pension.

Swiss officials have since discovered the death certificate to be a fake and that the woman was not his widow.

"This is bigger than Ben Hur", said Kathleen Charles, a former WMO chief administrator before resigning in 2003.

"It has kept growing and growing."

At a news conference in New York, a UN spokeswoman confirmed that according to the weather agency, the suspected staff member was fired after it was clear that there had been criminal activity, at which point his immunity was lifted.

Although the Swiss have issued an arrest warrant for him through Interpol, he has not yet been found.

The spokeswoman also said the WMO was a specialised agency, which while part of the United Nations, abided by its own rules and regulations.

The WMO Secretariat does not answer to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and is overseen by its own governing assembly comprising 187 member states.

The WMO secretary-general is elected by the governing assembly, not by the UN secretary-general.

The WMO, which coordinates and improves weather reporting around the world, has 350 employees and an annual budget of about $US75 million ($A97.4 million).

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Millions-stolen-from-UN-weather-agencys/2005/02/10/1107890316116.html?oneclick=true