Ban
Ki-moon UN
Scandals
Include
Pension Fund,
Spokesman
Doesn't Know
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, May 17
--
While many try
to insulate
today's UN
from the open
corruption of
the recent
past of
President of
the General
Assembly John
Ashe, there is
continuity to
that UN
scandal. So
too with the
UN Joint Staff
Pension Fund,
now under Sergio
Arvizu
and Ban
Ki-moon's
direct
representative
Carolyn
"Hedge
Fund"
Boykin, see
below.
Inner
City Press
focused on the
bribery
scandal in its
lone round of
questions to
UN Under
Secretary
General for
Management
Yukio Takasu
on May 4, but
updates on the
Pension Fund
decay, below.m
As
UN officials
including
Cristina
Gallach, whose involvement
in the scandal
is detailed in
the UN's own Office
of Internal
Oversight
Services audit
at Paragraphs
37 to 40 and
20(b)
have
moved to
evict
Inner City
Press
from the UN
premises (video
here) and
restrict its
access (New York
Times, here) Inner
City Press on
May 17 asked UN
Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric for
an update on
the UN Pension Fund
scandal, Vine
here, UN
transcript
here:
Inner
City Press:
about the
pension fund
and the
backlog.
And they're
saying, very
specifically,
that, although
USG
[Under-Secretary-General
Yukio] Takasu
said that
there's been a
36 per cent of
the backlog
has been dealt
with; they say
it's actually
7 per cent,
because new
cases keep
coming
on. And
Baumann… but,
I mean, staff
who have
smaller
pensions also
are
complaining
that… what's
actually being
done?
And what is
the UN's
response to a
pretty
sophisticated
analysis by a
staff union in
Geneva that
the number is
false that was
put out over
iSeek…?
Spokesman:
My
understanding
from the
pension fund
is that the
backlog is
supposed to be
cleared or at
least dealt
with in…
majority of it
by the end of
this
month.
We very much
hope so.
Obviously,
this kind of…
you know, we
talk about
numbers, but
each number is
hardship for a
retired staff
member.
Inner City
Press:
And what's the
status of the
request by the
head of the…
of the pension
fund to sort
of exempt the
fund and its
staff from
rules? I
know there was
a proposal…
Spokesman:
I don't know.
Great.
On May
4 Inner City Press
asked UN Under
Secretary-General
for Management
Yukio Takasu
about two
portions of
the OIOS
audit. Video
here.
Takasu
has been
petitioned to
reign in
Sergio Arvizu
from a
Gallach-like
power grab;
recently the
Department of
Management
reported to
staff that
Arzu is
working to fix
the
months-long
backlog in
starting to
pay benefits.
This is
contested --
"the backlog
was only
reduced by 7%,
a fifth of the
36% claimed by
management. On
current trends
it will take
14 months to
clear the
backlog" --
and so like on
Gallach's
Press
eviction, Ban
Ki-moon is
petitioned.
But Ban just
flies around
the world
collecting
honorary
degrees and,
apparently,
hoping these
scandals can
be kept under
wraps until he
leaves, with
an eye to a
final
sinecure. Ban
is being
mis-advised.
Pro tip:
censorship is
not the way to
go out.
e
How
was indicted
Ng Lap Seng's
Global
Sustainability
Foundation's
“sponsorship”
of the UN
slavery
memorial
opening event,
featuring Ban
Ki-moon,
accounted for
in the UN
budget?
Takasu gamely
said that
“in-kind”
contributions
are not
quantified or
listed. If so,
how many other
events did Ng
Lap Seng
entities
sponsor? Inner
City Press
asked how
Takasu's
Assistant
Secretary
General of the
Office of
Central
Support
Services
allowed Ng Lap
Seng's June
30, 2015 event
in the UN
Vistitors
Lobby, also
with no due
diligence by
Gallach's DPI,
to go forward.
Things slip
between the
cracks, Takasu
said,
indicating
that he would
like to
tighten things
up.
So
how much more
slipped
through the
cracks? And
how was
Gallach
allowed -- or
encouraged --
to retaliate
against the
Press which is
pursuing and
asking about
this story?
Given that
Gallach
clearly should
have recused
itself, when
will Inner
City Press be
restored to
its shared
office and
Resident
Correspondent
accreditation
status?
, 
