Audit hits at coalition spending of oil revenues
by Thomas Catan, Financial Times

The US-led occupation authority spent billions of dollars in Iraqi oil revenues last year without following its own procedures, auditors working for a United Nations oversight body have found.

The findings by KPMG, the accounting firm, were presented in Washington this week to the International Advisory and Monitoring Board (IAMB), a watchdog set up by the UN to oversee spending of Iraqi funds by occupation authorities.

According to the presentation, a draft of which was obtained by the Financial Times, KPMG's auditors said the Coalition Provisional Authority skirted its own rules for awarding contracts, some expenditures receiving "inappropriate authorisation". Six projects were approved by the Programme Review Board (PRB) in 2003 even though attendance of voting members fell short of the 70 per cent required for a quorum.

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