– I myself made the decision to resign – E24
Former UN chief Grete Faremo confirms that she or the deputy leader approved her personal loan for a controversial housing project where millions may have been lost. So far, not a single house has been built.
Norway’s former Minister of Justice, Grete Faremo, went off Sunday with immediate effect as Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) following a revelation by the newspaper New York Times.
The UN’s internal auditors fear that 22 million dollars – or 210 million Norwegian kroner – has gone after a loan agreement with the British businessman David Kendrick.
New York Times quotes an anonymous source high in the UN system as saying that Faremo was asked to resign.
Faremo tells VG that she herself looked up at the job:
– I myself made the decision to resign. Already on April 23, I took up an immediate solution, Faremo writes in a text message to VG.
Singapore-based company Kendrick – Sustainable Housing Solutions Holdings – received millions of dollars to develop planning to build more and millions of affordable homes in six countries, despite having no previous experience with projects of this size, writes devex.com.
Met at the party
New York Times writes that to employees of UNOPS managed a fund that is accused of having defaulted $ 25 million. At this time, Faremo was the director of the two employees.
Their agreement must have been made at a party organizer by Faremo himself, according to the newspaper.
Employees must also have paid an organization led by the 22-year-old daughter of British businessman David Kendrick, student Daisy Kendrick, three million dollars to produce a song and a computer game, the newspaper writes.
Grete Faremo writes in an SMS to VG that she does not have an overview of the whole story and thus no further comments about the allegations in New York Times.
New York Times has released a picture of Faremo from the party where she is holding a business card from Kendrick’s company.
She tells VG that she personally has not had contact with David Kendrick or can remember having greeted him. She says she attended short speeches at events and that it is many years ago.
– Did you personally approve the loans to Kendrick’s companies?
– Project and collaboration agreements were assessed by UNOPS ‘Engagement Acceptance Committee and signed by me as Executive Director or my then Deputy Executive Director, Faremo writes to VG.
Through his lawyers, the Kendrick family writes to the newspaper that they believe they can complete projects, and believe that they are exposed to a campaign that is trying to damage their reputation.
To VG, attorney Cameron Doley at the law firm Carter-Rucker in London says that there are a number of factual errors in New York Times articles and that Kendrick is considering taking legal action.
– Will pay back
Through his lawyer, Kendricks goes on to say that he has already paid back six million dollars in interest and fees and that he will pay back everything he owes.
He says the money from the UN agency is an ordinary, commercial loan. He says they have not been notified by UNOPS that there is any official investigation into him or his daughter.
Kendricks says the money was always meant to be start-up capital for major investments.
– Measure is to build over a million affordable homes globally over the next twenty to thirty years, writes Doley.
He went on to say that Daisy Kendrick’s song and video game project were delivered as an agreement to UNOPS through a standard tender process.
– No house
In a press release April 17 UNOPS states that the head of one of their investment programs, S3i, is under investigation for breach of the fund.
The S3i project, in collaboration with private forces, was to build hundreds of thousands of homes in Ghana, India, Guinea, Pakistan, Nigeria and the Caribbean island states and was headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. The headquarters of UNOPS are located in Copenhagen, Denmark.
So far no house has been built, writes New York Times.
The UN’s own auditors write in a report from last year that the money that was lent out is probably lost.
Kendrick’s lawyers dispute this:
They say they are in dialogue with UNOPS and will pay back all the money.
UNOPS does not want to answer VG’s questions on Monday, but refers to previous press releases. UNOPS writes that they are trying to get their money back and that they have not been lost.
Current aid has previously mentioned the investigation.
One of the companies owned by the British businessman Kendrick admits to having used money from the UN, among other things, to pay down old debt. The businessman’s lawyers write that they are working to restructure the debt, and that the money has not been lost.
Zero house in Ghana
One of the projects was launched with a bang in Ghana in 2018. It was to be built there 200,000 cheap housebut beforehand it happens a little:
“Not a single house project has been built,” Ghanaian government spokesman PK Sarpong told the New York Times on Sunday.
He says that the government has not heard about the project again after they were involved in announcing it.
However, the company’s local partner in Ghana, Kwame Blay, still has great faith in the project. He is the son of party secretary Freddie Blay of the ruling NPP party:
“The Ghana project is progressing as planned,” he added devex.com in April. He did not want to elaborate on who would pay the cost of paying the houses.
Kendrick’s lawyers also say they will complete the project:
– My clients are deeply committed to creating affordable housing in developing countries and are happy that the work in Ghana is going as planned, Doley writes.
He says they have spent ten million US dollars so far on preparatory work and a panel building factory and that they want to build environmentally friendly and energy efficient house in Ghana.