April 20, 2004: CPA Admits Not Having Used Certified Public Accounting Firm to Audit Spending of Iraq Funds

An official with the Coalition Provisional Authority reports that the “CPA did not obtain the services of a certified public accounting firm as it was determined that these services were not those required.” UN Security Council Resolution 1483 (see May 22, 2003) required that the management of Iraq’s funds be “audited by independent public accountants approved by the International Advisory and Monitoring Board of the Development Fund for Iraq.” Similarly, the CPA’s Regulation Number 2 (see June 10, 2003) stated that it had to “obtain the services of an independent, certified public accounting firm.” Instead, the CPA hired North Star Consultants, Inc. (see October 2003), an obscure consulting firm, “to promote the effective administration of DFI Funds in a transparent manner for the benefit of the Iraqi people.” [US Congress, 2/6/2007 ]