Washington – The World Bank’s ethics committee wasn’t consulted and didn’t approve of a hefty compensation package for the girlfriend of bank president Paul Wolfowitz, says the man who was the panel’s chairman at the time.
Ad Melkert made his comments Tuesday in an appearance before a special bank panel looking into Wolfowitz’s handling of the 2005 promotion and pay package of bank employee Shaha Riza.
Melkert, who was ethics chief when the arrangement was made but now works at the United Nations, said he rejects “any direct or indirect allegation or suggestion that the ethics committee was aware or should have been aware of the terms and conditions of Ms. Riza’s contract.”
One day earlier, Wolfowitz told the panel the bank’s ethics committee had access to all the details surrounding the arrangement involving Riza “if they wanted it.”
Melkert said the committee was not consulted and did not approve details of Riza’s compensation package, including “the large initial pay increase, the stipulation for subsequent annual increases and the stipulations for subsequent promotions.”
The panel is still considering the case, which has prompted calls for Wolfowitz’s resignation.
Ultimately, the bank’s 24-member board will decide what action should be taken, if any. The board, which has been meeting on and off over the past weeks, was expected to gather later in the day Tuesday.
The board could ask Wolfowitz to resign, signal it lacks confidence in his leadership, reprimand him or take no action.
People familiar with the bank’s workings suggest there might be a compromise in which Wolfowitz is found to have acted in good faith but later resigns.
His attorney, Robert Bennett, said Tuesday his client “is not going to resign in the face of this bogus conflict-of-interest charge.”
