Marc Rich Tied to U.N. Oil for Food Scandal (NewsMax)

NewsMax ^ | 4-29-04 | Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff

[jmstein7]

Clinton-pardoned fugitive billionaire Marc Rich has turned up in the middle of the United Nations Oil for Food scandal, with his name on a roster of companies authorized to participated in the corruption-plagued arrangement.

"One of Marc Rich's companies was on the United Nations list that was approved to trade and transport Iraqi oil," Fox News Channel's Eric Shawn reported Tuesday.

"And it appears that Mr. Rich's firm, Marc Rich & Co. Investments AG, may well have been given that approval by the UN before the presidential pardon," Shawn added.

That means the U.N. was ready to do business with America's most wanted white collar criminal, while other program participants were busily stuffing their pockets with Saddam Hussein's kickbacks.

Thomas Frutig, CEO of Marc Rich Holdings, denied the allegation, telling Fox, "We were not involved in the Oil for Food program."

But in the next breath he added, "Every oil company which wasn't trading applied for an authorization to trade, but I can't tell you how much we did, or whether we did anything."

Rich had previously gotten into trouble over allegations he traded oil with Iran at a time when Tehran was on the U.S. embargo list as a state sponsor of terrorism.

[backhoe]

A little more:

Witness: Justice Was Unaware Rich Was Fugitive [Free Republic]
... was wanted on charges of tax evasion, fraud and participating in illegal oil deals
with ... Q Are you distracted at all by the furor over the Mark Rich pardon and ...
www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a8a85150335.htm - 42k - Cached - Similar pages

Probe to blow lid off massive UN scandal Documents prove ...
... Somebody really needs to look into the clintoon factor in this oil for food
scam, I am sure they are involved along with their buddy mark rich. ...
www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1118514/posts - 68k - Cached - Similar pages

[Rockitz]

Thank-you God....still praying the Clintons end up in jail.

[ladyinred]

Will all of the corruption of the most crooked administration ever be brought to light? My God, will it ever end? The damage those two did to this country will never be able to be reversed.

[potlatch]

And Clinton won't be around to pardon him this time!!

[TaxRelief]

Baltkurs Interview with Loutchansky

My meeting with Clinton was presented as an appointment between Clinton and the Russian mafia. Entry into England was bared. All these stories in the press were said to be information leaks from special agencies. The bank accounts of Nordex were closed; our partners were given information that ruined our reputation. American agencies failed tens of our contracts, the value of which amounted to millions of dollars: exploitation of the largest gold mines in the world in Kazakhstan together with a Canadian compan; maintenance of the largest Kazakhstan metallurgy complex in Karagada together with American company US Steel. We had to gather 500 million dollars for these projects. I gave 75 million, Aisenberg and US Steel had to provide the rest. Eximbank said: we won't give money to projects that Nordex is involved in. Ukrainians, taking advantage of the situation, refused to return my money. Why should we pay, if Nordex is such a bad company!

My deputies--many of them are friends since childhood--were put under great pressure. In 1995 I turned 50. There were only relatives, close friends and colleagues at the party. This was my best birthday. Right after the party, newspapers in Israel published information that it was a gathering of the Russian mafia in Eilata. I understood that I wouldn't get out of this, that my train is heading into a wall at high speed. After the birthday I called all of my deputies and said--you no longer work in Nordex. They were shocked. Some tried to dissuade me, some rejoiced. All of them were millionaires, rich people. I also lived for the team. So Nordex closed in April 1995. At Easter. I stayed. I had enough money and health to fight for my own reputation for the rest of my life, even to spend millions on this goal.

Nordex had lost its reputation. Launching a company of the same kind had no sense. I left the trade business. As of 1995, I was a student of the Israeli millionaire Shaul Aisenberg, who sometimes is called an engineer of money. He dealt with financing projects. We worked together in Kazakhstan, China. We established 17 joint companies. A person who finances projects doesn't care what he is financing; it can be a metallurgy engineering plant or a cinema. My task was to find the money. I worked with him up until 1997; after that I created a center for investment programs and projects in Moscow. Nordex continued its existence as a dormant company since it had many debtors, amongst them even states: Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, the sum totaled 400 million dollars. My business today is investment projects.