South Korean convicted in oil-for-food case

NEW YORK - A US federal court jury convicted South Korean lobbyist Tongsun Park of acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Iraq and money-laundering today for his role in the UN oil-for-food scandal.

The jury deliberated for less than a day after a two-and-a-half week trial that told of briefcases bulging with cash and secret meetings involving Saddam Hussein or former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

It was the first US federal trial related to the corrupted UN oil-for-food program, which had been designed to help provide humanitarian relief to Iraq while it was under international sanctions for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The US$67 billion ($108.46 million) programme spawned a kickback and bribery side business that implicated officials, companies or politicians from some 40 countries, according to a panel headed by former US Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

US prosecutors say Park acted on behalf of Saddam by lobbying US and UN officials to drop economic sanctions against the former Iraqi president and that Park broke the law by failing to notify the Justice Department.

Park, 71, faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced October 26. Judge Denny Chin had denied him bail, saying he was a flight risk, and Park has been held in a jail hospital to treat his diabetes.

"He is disappointed because he is not guilty. We are hoping Judge (Denny) Chin will enter of judgement of acquittal," defence lawyer Michael Kim said.

Kim has asked for dismissal, saying the conspiracy alleged could no longer be prosecuted under the statute of limitations.

Prosecutors also say Park received some US$2 million from Iraq and had sought up to US$10 million on the premise that he needed it to bribe his friend, Boutros-Ghali. There was no evidence Boutros-Ghali received any money.

Iraq deputy UN ambassador Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi said in a statement Park's actions strengthened the former regime "and led to the continued oppression of the people of Iraq."

US Attorney Michael Garcia said Park would now face the penalty for "corrupting the process that led to the adoption of the oil-for-food program."

Six others under indictment in New York in the oil-for-food case have yet to be tried, including Texas oil tycoon Oscar Wyatt. Kim said Park's conviction was unlikely to have much impact "because those cases are very different."

Park previously had gained notoriety in the 1970s as a lobbyist who gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to members of Congress as part of the influence-peddling scandal dubbed "Koreagate." Charges against him were dropped.

- REUTERS