Toronto-- In the complex world of high finance, former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker is a proven wizard.
Pulling the rabbit out of the hat, Volcker used the "Chinese wall" paradigm in his role of overhauling embattled accounting firm arthur andersen, having the firm separate its auditing and consulting practices in the wake of its role as auditor of Enron, which filed for the largest-ever U.S. bankruptcy.
Keeping Miranda Duncan mum seems to have been Volcker's next paradigm.
When Miranda Margaret Duncan, one of two senior investigators who resigned in protest from Volcker's independent inquiry into the oil-for-food scandal last april, she cited the "whitewashing" of UN Secretary-General Kofi annan's involvement in the scandal as her reason.
Volcker's first Miranda move was to publicly deny the "whitewashing" charge.
Volcker's second move--approved by annan--was to legally block Duncan from ever giving testimony to U.S. Congressional committees investigating the oil-for-food scandal.
In addition to Duncan being kept legally mum by Volcker, she's reported to be told to keep her lips sealed by her grandfather, David Rockefeller.
Going on the lam and taking up refuge in the Rockefeller townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East side, "She is going through a messy divorce and wanted some privacy," relatives told NewsMax.com, on May 23, 2005.
With impunity, Volcker has moved another piece on the oil-for-food scandal chessboard.
But as accomplished as he is, the former US Federal Reserve chairman may have unwittingly left a loophole open for other U.S. authorities in the oil-for-food hunt.
From the moment she tendered her resignation, Duncan forfeited any UN diplomatic immunity status, leaving her fair game for say, the New York Bar association from whence she came, or Congressional committee members.
authorities should be looking into the speed of Duncan's arrival to Volcker's office.
Miranda Duncan was admitted to the New York Bar in 2004–and seems to have been immediately parachuted into the Volcker panel as a "senior investigator" in the probe into the largest fraud in global history.
a Search Detail of the New York State attorney Directory as of 06/16/2005, conducted by canadafreepress.com shows Duncan's Registration Number as 4264719 and her address listed as 825 3rd ave., New York, N.Y. The directory indicates that Duncan graduated from Skull-and-Bones-Yale University.
among the scads of New York attorneys available, why was Duncan fast tracked to the panel?
Why within only weeks on the job, did the newly minted New York attorney resign in protest?
Duncan was effectively blocked from any ability to testify about what she knows by former boss Paul Volcker. Next reports begin to surface in the media that this wonder woman with a law degree is being advised by her legendary grandfather David Rockefeller to keep a lid on it.
any attempt of covering up the secretary-general's alleged involvement in the ongoing oil-for-food scandal would likely be a crime, both in the State of New York and under US federal statutes.
Whether the cover-up originates with Volcker, annan, Duncan or her billionaire grandfather, a coverup in a fraud surely flouts the law.
With Duncan not protected by UN diplomatic immunity, why haven't the New York State attorney's office, the U.S. Congressional committees or other authorities attempted to break Volcker's hold over keeping Duncan from testifying?
although it was Rockefeller's family money that built UN headquarters, the family scion has no official job status at the UN, and has never had the privilege of diplomatic unity.
Has any authority ever considered that if Rockefeller is counseling his granddaughter to remain silent over a fraud of any kind, he is possibly on the wrong side of the law? What about the potential for charges of Obstructing Justice, Witness Tampering or Criminal Solicitation at the minimum?
and what about possible conspiracy to obstruct justice on the issue of Saddam's genocide and funding an insurgency that has blown up UN headquarters in Iraq, killing 17 people, including UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello in august, 2003?
Meanwhile what horrors that she couldn't stomach did Miranda Duncan come across when she worked as an attorney on the independent inquiry into the oil-for-food fiasco?
It's time for the law of the land to "Chinese Wall" Paul Volcker.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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