Congress’s oil stain has American shadow

Like Marc Rich and Company (Holding), most of the Rich network unearthed by Businessweek has offices in the Zug, Switzerland’s richest city. Zug is also HQ of Masefield, described by its website as “specialists in international energy trading’’.

Rich has been named directly in the Volcker report for a deal involving a French politician’s son and bearing a remarkable resemblance to the mess Natwar finds himself in.

On page 61, the committee details how, in 2000, 9.5 million barrels was allocated by the Iraqi oil ministry to Claude Kaspereit, son of French MP Gabriel Kaspereit. For this, Claude Kaspereit created a ‘‘shell company’’ —European Oil and Trading Company (EOTC). Marc Rich lifted four million barrels ‘‘given’’ to Kaspereit. Shortly after, EOTC transferred a sum of money (‘‘surcharges’’) to an account in the Jordan National Bank. The Volcker report says Marc Rich was thus responsible for enriching the Saddam regime by $ 932,630. Substitute EOTC for Hamdan Exports and a pattern emerges.

Who is Marc Rich? In 1983, he was charged by US authorities with breaking an embargo and trading in Iranian oil, evading taxes worth $48 million and accused of 51 cases of fraud. His companies eventually paid $200 million in penalties, but Rich himself escaped to Switzerland.

On January 20, 2001, the day his term ended, Clinton pardoned Rich. The action was controversial. Denise Rich, Marc’s former wife, was a friend of the Clintons and had contributed to Hillary Clinton’s senate election.

After the Volcker report, the US has announced it is going to inquire into Marc Rich’s involvement in the oil for food programme. Perhaps there’ll be questions for Hamdan and its principals too.