Yemen's central bank dismisses UN corruption allegations

Yemen's central bank dismissed United Nations allegations that the Yemeni government misused millions of dollars donated by Saudi Arabia to buy essential commodities for the Yemeni people. A report by a panel of U.N. experts released to the media this week accused the internationally recognised government of implementing a scheme to illegally divert to traders USD 423 million in Saudi money.

The funds were meant to buy rice and other supplies for Yemenis who have been suffering from a protracted military conflict since 2014, the report said.

"The government of Yemen is, in some cases, engaging in money-laundering and corruption practices that adversely affect access to adequate food supplies for Yemenis, in violation of the right to food," the panel said.

The Central Bank of Yemen said Wednesday the report was based on "misleading claims and information" propagated by "enemies of Yemen." The Yemeni government had not responded to the report as of Thursday afternoon.

According to the U.N. report, the USD 423 million scheme involved illegally transferring public money to traders, with 48 per cent going to a single holding corporation, the Hayel Saeed Anam Group, known as HSA.

The HSA Group said in a statement the allegations were "baseless" and denied them "in the strongest terms." The CBY said the Saudi money was disbursed according to "highly transparent procedures" that met international standards of due diligence, according to an official statement.

The bank vowed to provide a thorough rebuttal backed by evidence and documents at a later stage, the statement said.

Six years of war between a U.S.-backed Arab coalition supporting the internationally recognised government and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have been catastrophic for Yemen, killing more than 112,000 people, creating the world's worst humanitarian crisis, bringing the country to the brink of famine and wrecking infrastructure.

The war began with the 2014 Houthi takeover of the north, where the majority of Yemenis live, which prompted a destructive air campaign by the Saudi-led coalition the following year, aimed at restoring the government.

The U.N. experts also accused the Houthis of diverting at least USD 1.8 billion in aid funds in 2019 that was supposed to go to the government to pay salaries and provide basic services to citizens.

The report said the Houthis perform government functions including collecting taxes and other state revenue, "a large portion of which is used to fund their war effort" — not to help the Yemeni people.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)