-Caveat Lector- Donors Freeze Money To Palestinian Group After Audit Source: DJI - Dow Jones International News
Mar 25 07:25 JERUSALEM (AP)--International donors have frozen funding for a leading Palestinian human rights group after an independent audit raised suspicion that millions of dollars in grants has been mismanaged, the European Union said Tuesday. The group under scrutiny is called Law Society. Which has been monitoring Israeli and Palestinian human rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 1990. An audit by the accounting firm Ernst & Young indicated that Law Society funneled at least $1.5 million in donor money into a savings account without the donors´ knowledge. The group did this by overstating wages and other expenses and by falsifying annual budget statements and audits, according to an initial report. Israel´s Haaretz newspaper, citing the audit report, said Tuesday that $4 million is unaccounted for. A partial copy of the report obtained by The Associated Press makes note of about $2 million that was apparently mismanaged. The audit spans the period from September 1997 through August 2002, a time when LAW received nearly $10 million in grants. The report names LAW´s former director, Khader Shkirat, as being involved in the mismanagement of funds. In a telephone interview Tuesday, Shkirat acknowledged setting up savings accounts without the donors´ knowledge, but denied any money disappeared. The accounts were set up to make sure the group would have money in the future, should donors decide one day to stop the funding, Shkirat said. 'We wanted to secure the future,' Shkirat said. 'The donors would not have agreed to allow us to save money for the future which is why we didn´t tell them.' The European Union said in a statement that the audit´s initial findings 'indicate considerable mismanagement within LAW.' It said it was continuing to examine the legal and financial implications of the audit and 'in the meantime, the donors have decided to freeze all contributions' to the group. The audit said LAW´s 'accounting records and the accounting system were not reliable.' In addition to setting up the savings account, the audit says LAW misused donor money to give no-interest loans to one of Shkirat´s relatives and to buy cars that members of the group weren´t eligible for. The audit said it has been unable to account for all the grant money. 'It cannot be ruled out that assets have been disposed of,' the report said. In September 2002, LAW informed the donors that some $1.5 million had been set aside in savings accounts without the donors´ knowledge. Shkirat said all the money was found intact in the bank. (Copyright (c) 2003, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) http://imf- clk.dep.divinems.com/fpweb/fp.dll/$imfexport/htm/x_dv.htm/_id/512 575532/_u/mdavid2/_k/maNAI3JQ7qEo0wLB Received Id DJI0308401980 on Mar 25 2003 07:32 <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http://archive.jab.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http://archive.jab.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
