Controversial head of the World Bank's anti-corruption unit resigns
16 January 2008
Resignation comes after internal review reveals Bank's ineffectiveness in addressing corruption in health projects in India.
On Wednesday, January 16, Reuters and the Financial Times (FT) reported that Suzanne Rich-Folsom resigned as chief of the World Bank's anti-corruption unit. Folsom's appointment to lead the Department of Institutional Integrity (INT), the Bank's internal, anti-corruption unit, was highly controversial since her appointment to the position in 2005 by former Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.
The independent review of the INT conducted in September 2007 (known as the Volcker Panel review), found the internal anti-corruption unit fraught with weak management and a conflict of interest at its upper management: Folsom, who headed the INT was also a Counselor to World Bank President Robert Zoellick. The Volcker Panel had also found that the INT was generally perceived by Bank staff as ineffective in combating corruption. Folsom's departure would be welcome by most Bank staff "who regard Ms Folsom as an over-zealous prosecutor who treated career Bank officials as potential suspects rather than allies in the fight against corruption," according to the Financial Times.
World Bank spokesman Marwan Muasher stressed that Folsom was not forced from her position; she was subsequently offered another position within the Bank by President Zoellick, which she turned down to take up a "very good offer from the private sector," said Muasher. He reiterated that there "was no attempt to force her out in any way or shape."
News of Folsom's resignation came as the World Bank faced growing criticism for its failure to address extensive corruption within Bank projects. On January 14, the Wall Street Journal reported that the World Bank had uncovered "serious incidents of fraud and corruption" in health projects it funded in India, on the order of US $570 million.
Sources
- World Bank anti-corruption chief resigns, Reuters, January 16, 2007. (Reuters website)
- Anti-graft chief at World Bank leaves, by Krishna Guha, January 16, 2007. (Financial Times website)
- World Bank Probe Finds Fraud, Wall Street Journal, January 14, 2008 (Wall Street Journal Website)
- Head of World Bank Fraud Unit Resigns, by Steve Weisman, January, 17, 2007. (New York Times website)
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