Threats After UNOPS Corruption Leaked to Inner City Press Amid Demand for UN Records

Threats After UNOPS Corruption Leaked to Inner City Press Amid Demand for UN Records by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack UN GATE, Sept 13 – How corrupt is today's UN under lame duck Antonio Guterres? Well, even those few UN officials bounced for corruption are simply re-hired, and no one answers why. Inner City Press published this, from UNOPS whistleblowers: Dear Matthew Russell Lee and Inner City Press Editorial Team,  Despite reforms announced after the S3i scandal, the root causes remain unchanged.  Key facts: UNOPS’ internal accountability bodies (IAIG and the Ethics Office) continue to shield senior officials and silence whistleblowers. Abdoul Dieng (Director, IAIG) and Berkan Manaigo-Vekil (Director, Ethics Office) must be removed and independently investigated.  Abdoul Dieng played a central role in the cover-up of the S3i scandal and is now engaged in concealing misconduct in the UNOPS Nicaragua scandal and the DUNDEX case. Of 91 retaliation complaints in UNOPS history, only 2 were ever upheld, both nearly a decade ago. None of the 34 cases filed between 2022–2024 were recognized. The trusted NAVEX whistleblowing platform was scrapped and replaced by a weak in-house tool that lacks basic safeguards. The abusive use of ICA contracts persists globally, most recently exposed through the mass dismissals in Geneva and at the Stop TB Partnership, where staff were treated as disposable.  Our message is simple: S3i is not over. The same structural failures that enabled it still exist today.  We have submitted a detailed letter to the Executive Board of UNOPS [Inner City Press has a copy, as well as the distribution list] Now on September 13, 2026, the day after Inner City Press demanded records about UNOPS Vitaly Vanshelboim from the UNDT and UNAT under their rules, this from the whistleblowers: Dear Inner City Press,  We are writing as the UNOPS Nicaragua Collective to bring to your attention a serious accountability situation unfolding in UNOPS Nicaragua and to request your continued scrutiny of what may be a broader issue affecting UNOPS personnel across different regions.  We appreciate your coverage of UNOPS colleagues seeking accountability worldwide, including the situation involving Nathalie Angibeau in Africa. What we are experiencing in Nicaragua, together with recent developments in Mozambique and concerns emerging elsewhere, raises an important question: whether UNOPS’s internal oversight system is providing personnel with genuinely independent investigation, due process, protection and effective recourse.  In Nicaragua, several former personnel continue to have serious complaints unresolved, with limited or no effective internal recourse. We possess documentary evidence that raises serious questions about IAIG’s handling of allegations involving fraud, financial mismanagement, retaliation, harassment and abuse, including IAIG-2025-172 and IAIG-2024-249.  We are not asking anyone to accept our allegations as established facts. We are asking for an independent body willing to examine the evidence.  We have therefore formally requested the UNOPS Executive Board to commission an independent investigation into the actions of IAIG Director Abdoul Dieng concerning the Nicaragua cases and an independent review of IAIG’s handling of the relevant complaints, investigations, findings and decisions. We are also requesting safeguards for complainants and a secure mechanism through which our documentary evidence can be submitted directly to independent reviewers.  We previously sought an independent review through representatives of the UNOPS Global Personnel Association Forum and subsequently pursued external oversight through OIOS complaint OIOS-0222-26. That matter was closed without the Collective having an opportunity to present and explain the body of evidence underlying our allegations.  Our concerns intensified following a communication from Mr. Dieng on 28 August 2025 (see attachment) in which, after referring to alleged defamatory statements and breaches of UN confidentiality rules, he stated that he intended to pursue the matter through means available under UN rules, international law and national law enforcement, expressly in his individual capacity. Against the background of unresolved complaints involving the office he directs, members of the Collective experienced this communication as intimidating and threatening.  The institutional problem is simple: when serious concerns are raised about the conduct of an oversight function, that same function cannot credibly be the final authority deciding whether its own actions warrant investigation.  This is also why we believe Nicaragua should be viewed alongside developments elsewhere in UNOPS. In Mozambique, 26 UNOPS personnel have reportedly been referred in connection with allegations of collusion and financial mismanagement, alongside proceedings involving 15 contractors. The circumstances are different, as are those involving Nathalie Angibeau, and we make no presumption regarding anyone’s guilt or innocence. But across these cases, similar questions are emerging about investigation, attribution of responsibility, due process, protection and access to effective recourse.  We have the evidence concerning Nicaragua. We are prepared to provide it confidentially and explain it document by document. What we need is an independent and credible mechanism willing to examine it.  Sincerely,  UNOPS Nicaragua Collective"   We'll have more on this- and on the requested records, and Inner City Press' application to enter the UN to get to the bottom of this corruption, and more, pending since July 25, 2026, here. *** Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron. 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