Responding to the World Bank Call

This effort crossed the starting line in June 2004, when the World Bank Group was under the steadfast Presidency of Mr. James Wolfenson; it rallied to the valiant words of Mr. Paul Wolfowitz, who called on individuals to help protect the integrity of World Bank projects by reporting allegations of fraud and corruption; and today it has taken on a new endurance, re-assured by the Bank’s new President, Mr. Robert Zoellick, who is determined to encourage hope, opportunity, and respect for personal dignity within the World Bank Group.

As an ‘Individual’ who has answered the Bank’s call to help protect the integrity of World Bank projects by Reporting Allegations of Fraud and Corruption¸ I do not find it hard to understand why our numbers have been dwindling through the past three Presidencies, at a time when the Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity has revealed that there have been sharp rises in Fraud and Corruption in Bank Financed Operations.

I had the privilege to become an ‘Individual’ when I managed a Parliamentary Commission study into a World Bank Project. I applied to the project’s International Operator for information needed for the study; but he suggested I apply to Washington. I then applied to the second in command at the Bank’s country office, who responded likewise. This was indeed interesting; until then I had read that the Bank consistently strived to enhance Transparency and Accountability in their operations.

I sent an application to the Washington address, and whilst waiting a reply, a Commission study specialist started gathering project related data at the office of the Project Management Unit (PMU). Armed with some basic information I was finally allowed into the Bank’s country office to meet with their Portfolio Manager. It was during that meeting I first met the World Bank Armenia Country Manager. He stormed in to the room and lectured me about how I should not contact the Bank office in Washington; how I should not bother his staff at the local Bank office; and how I should apply only to the Project Management Unit for the information needed for our Parliamentary Commission study.

Reeling from his aggression, I presented the Country Manager a copy of the project’s Sub-Credit Agreement, which was signed in the name of a Project Implementation Unit (PIU), but had the stamp of a Project Management Unit (PMU), which was counterfeit. After asking which Project Management Unit or which Project Implementation Unit I should apply to, the Country Manager reluctantly agreed that our Parliamentary Commission could apply directly to the Bank – but only for a limited amount of project documents.

Needless to say, the reason for his aggressiveness was later understood. Not only was the project found to be riddled with Fraud and Corruption, it featured in a wider agenda of Embezzlement. This ‘Individual’ reported the critical findings to the Bank’s Country Manager and later applied for advice to the Bank’s Department of Institutional Integrity (INT). When the ‘Integrity Officer’ responded, he kindly informed that he would ‘forward the request to the Task-Manager of the project in the Bank for his information and to the Country Manager’. The Country Manager accordingly decided that the ‘Individual’ should be made to understand that he should not meddle in World Bank affairs.

Responding to Mr. Wolfowitz’s call to Report Fraud and Corruption in Bank Financed Operations turned out to be not the wisest decision. This ‘Individual’ has since been involved in a string of attempts to limit the effects of World Bank Retributions; the result of his involvement in the Parliamentary Commission study and of Reporting Fraud and Corruption in Bank Financed Operations.

The latest attempt is with the support of Washington’s Government Accountability Project, who’s General Council, on March 29^th this year submitted a ‘Demand Letter’ to the Director of the Department of Institutional Integrity. The British Embassy in Armenia has been informed of the proceedings since the time of the Parliamentary study, and on 29^th May this year the British Ambassador in Armenia added his support to the claim with a letter to the Director of the Department of Institutional Integrity.

More than four months after submission of the Government Accountability Project Demand Letter, with no response from the Department of Institutional Integrity, this Blog is to bring the information into the public domain.

The Blog will develop to provide a detailed report on the process from beginning to end, and it extends a request to the Department of Institutional Integrity to please demonstrate your readiness to respond to claims of Fraud and Corruption in Bank Financed Operations, by carrying out a full investigation into this matter. Undoubtedly, following an investigation, the Bank will understand that an effort is needed to improve the quality of World Bank projects in Armenia. And possibly the Bank will be ready to show how ‘Grateful’ it is to those ‘Individuals’ who Report Fraud and Corruption in Bank Financed Operations ……………..