In a decision yesterday, Judge Stein ruled that the government of Iraq could not recover against dozens of companies accused of manipulating the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program. The program “was designed to permit Iraq to sell its oil to third parties, as long as the proceeds were used to purchase food and medical supplies for the Iraqi population.” The defendants were accused of a scheme that Judge Stein described as “both intricate and simple: the Hussein Regime priced its oil below the market price in order to facilitate kickback payments from buyers, and it overpaid for food and medicine in order to facilitate side payments to it from sellers in the form of surcharges.” Judge Stein found that the “grave allegations of the Complaint paint a picture of a people oppressed and of a repressive government resolved to frustrate the international community’s efforts to intervene to assist the Iraqi people,” but nevertheless dismissed the case based on (among other reasons) the Iraq government’s own role in the scheme:
Continue Reading Judge Stein Dismisses Case Brought By Iraq Against Companies Accused of Manipulating the U.N. Oil-For-Food Program