WHO chief indicted, Staff claims she embezzled millions of dollars

World Health Organization staff in Syria accused their boss of embezzling millions of dollars, showering government officials with gifts – computers, gold coins, cars, among others – and failing to comply with the agency’s own protocols against Covid-19 when the pandemic was hitting the country.

(Diario de Yucatán).- WHO insiders told investigators that the agency’s representative in Syria, Dr. Akjemal Magtymova, behaved abusively, pressured WHO staff to sign contracts with high-level Syrian government politicians, and wasted WHO and donor funds on an ongoing basis, according to more than 100 confidential documents, messages and other materials accessed by the AP.

Akjemal Magtymova, a citizen of Turkmenistan and a medical doctor, declined to answer questions about the allegations “due to (her) duties as a WHO staff member.” She described the allegations as “defamatory.”

The allegations by at least a dozen workers opened one of the largest internal WHO investigations in years, at times requiring more than 20 investigators.

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