The guilty verdict June 7 in the federal fraud and corruption case of former UN procurement official Sanjaya Bahel was a small step in the direction of justice done at the UN. But what about the stampeding in the wrong direction that went on for years, as UN officials apparently strove to ignore Bahel’s crooked schemes. What was going on at the UN, around and above Bahel, while he was steering contracts to friends in exchange for such stuff as luxury travel and living arrangements? UN officials twice exonerated him on the basis of much the same evidence that persuaded a jury to convict after less than half a day of deliberations. Fox’s George Russell and I take stock of some very big loose ends.
