NewsMax reports new tangles in the Kojo Annan/Cotecna/Saddam web:

Annan is one of several high-profile figures involved in a U.N. supervised Iraqi aid program that U.S. and U.N. investigators believe may have been embezzled of as much as $23 billion.

The U.N.-Iraq Oil for Food Program, which ran from 1997-2003, was supposed to allow Baghdad to purchase medicines, food and other humanitarian goods by allowing Iraq to sell a limited amount of oil under Security Council supervision.

To make sure prohibited items did not make their way into Iraq, the U.N. hired several organizations to verify the imports.

Originally, the verifications were provided by Lloyd's of London. However in late 1998, a Swiss firm, Cotecna was awarded the contract.

The award raised some eyebrows since Cotecna had no previous experience in the field.

Cotecna did have an important employee; Kojo Annan, the son of the secretary-general Kofi Annan.

Annan the son and Cotecna have both publicly denied the family connection had anything to do with the U.N. contract.

Both also note at the time the U.N. contract was won, the younger Annan had already left the company.

The period was late 1998, early 1999.

Then, in late November 2004, the New York Sun broke the story that Kojo had actually remained on the Cotecna payroll till early 2004, almost 5 years later than previously admitted.

This is basically a review of what we already knew about the situation. One new fact is that the Cotecna payments to Kojo were originally estimated to be near $150,000 but now U.N. sources have revealed that the figure is actually closer to $225,000.

However, this 'appearance' of impropriety is small potatoes compared with new suspicions regarding Cotecna's actions as the oil-for-food verification agent:

Cotecna, it is suspected, certified that goods entering Iraq were in fact what had been contractually purchased by the U.N. program and authorized by the Security Council when they were not.

U.S. investigators now believe that many of these imports were either outdated medicines or foodstuffs.

Though certified as new, Cotecna it is believed allowed the U.N. program to pay full value for the merchandise, though the real prices paid were in fact substantially lower.

The differences between the paid prices and the real prices were skimmed by various Iraqis and officials associated with the U.N. program.

That, U.S. congressional investigators say, could run as high as $23 billion.

At this point, it seems that the unearthing of additional information about this program continues to damn the U.N. by exposing how deep (and high) the corruption went.

Based on their track record, is it really reasonable to trust the U.N. with $3 billion U.S. tax dollars each year?