New York
A Russian diplomat was arrested in an FBI raid last week and charged with taking hundreds of thousands of dollars for covering up corruption at the United Nations. Vladimir Kuznetsov, 48, allegedly had accepted kickbacks from a Russian U.N. procurement officer, who has been accused of soliciting a bribe from a company seeking a contract in the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal. That official, Alexander Yakovlev, has already pleaded guilty to taking nearly $1 million from contractors in other U.N. programs. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan agreed to waive diplomatic immunity for Kuznetsov, who chairs an influential budget committee in the U.N. General Assembly. He was formally charged in Manhattan court, and said in a thick accent, “Plead not guilty.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
'From his election as pope in 2013, Francis sought to reform'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Israel blames 'failures' for killing of medicsspeed read 14 Gaza medics and 1 U.N. employee were killed by IDF special forces
-
Hegseth reportedly shared war plans in 2nd group textSpeed Read The defense secretary sent information about an attack in Yemen to a Signal group chat that included his wife and brother
