World Bank panel finds Wolfowitz guilty of conflict of interest

Michael Roston

Published: Monday May 7, 2007 Print This Email This

A World Bank panel has found President Paul Wolfowitz guilty of a "conflict of interest," according to a breaking report at the New York Times website.

"A bank committee formally transmitted its findings that he was guilty of a conflict of interest in arranging for a pay raise and promotion in 2005 to Shaha Ali Riza, his companion," wrote Steven Weisman late on Monday afternoon.

The panel's finding have not been made public, and Weisman added that "It was not clear whether the committee, consisting of 7 of the banks 24 board members, would remove Mr. Wolfowitz from his post or, more likely, express a loss of confidence in his leadership in a manner that might persuade him to resign."

The news came as Wolfowitz's adviser Kevin Kellems resigned, complaining that the cloud over the Bush appointed president made his work at the institution useless.

The satirical website Wonkette was reporting rumors late on Monday that Wolfowitz had resigned, but the site was unable to back the rumor up.



