There are mixed versions about the result of the report. He was denounced for maintaining a romantic relationship with a subordinate, and for abuse of power. He could be fired.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), based in Washington, is Red Hot: the agency’s executive board has in its hands an independent investigation that seeks to clarify whether the agency’s head, the American Mauricio Claver Caronekept a intimate relationship with an employee and committed abuse of powerwhich could result in dismissal of the official.
The report was not made public and resolution of the issue may be imminent. The Reuters agency anticipated on Tuesday that the investigation had found evidence of the charges, but Claver-Carone said that the allegations are “anonymous and false” and criticized not having received “due process” to defend himself from the accusations.
The report analyzes a complaint that was made months ago with a anonymous mail addressed to officials and executive directors of the agency. The message claimed that Claver Carone had an intimate relationship with a senior bank official, who had previously worked with him in the White House under President Donald Trump and who currently holds a senior management position.
This type of contact between the members of the multilateral organization is not allowed. They also denounced some excesses in expenses during trips and alleged abuses of power.
The board hired an outside legal consultant to do an independent investigation that lasted several months and whose results have been under analysis by the board since Monday.
According to Reuters — which says it did not see the report but cites two sources close to the investigation — the report provides evidence of the relationship and also cites examples of Claver-Carone’s abuse of power, including the firing of some bank employees, which investigators believed was in retaliation for personal conflicts, the sources said.
In a statement, Claver-Carone, who has also not seen the report but has been questioned by investigators, said Monday that the investigation “does not corroborate the false and anonymous allegations.” investigation in accordance with Bank rules and international standards,” he said.
as he knew Clarion from agency sources who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of the case, the report would not show conclusive evidence about the relationship of both in the IDB nor that the employees have been fired, but they “feared” they would be laid off.
In addition, they state that the report has inconsistenciessuch as that they indicate that the defendant refused to testify when she sent a letter with her defense. Clarion obtained a copy of the woman’s statement, dated August 4, in which she “denies all allegations suggesting a violation of the personnel code”, with legal arguments. This correspondent did not see the consultant’s final report.
The investigation has the entire staff of the Bank on edge and is the talk of Washington. As Clarín learned, several witnesses have already been called to testify and the most varied hypotheses are drawn about who could have sent the anonymous email that sparked the scandal. All parties denounce that there is a “Witch hunt” and there is a sea of permanent suspicions that there is some country -or several- behind this move.
Claver Carone, of Cuban origin, is the first American to occupy the presidency of the IDB, which by tradition is reserved for a Latin American, which caused great controversy. He won the arm wrestling match against the Argentine Gustavo Béliz and for that reason he earned the discomfort of the government of Alberto Fernández. In fact, Claver recently paralyzed a loan already granted to Argentina, arguing that our country had to first meet the goals with the IMF.
Complaints and suspicions
In the environment of the head of the IDB they suspect Argentina, as well as other countries such as Brazil (he refused to appoint a vice president of that nationality) and even China, because it has cut funds from that country. They also slip other issues related to gender: they believe that they are cruel to the woman denounced because the body is a sexist institution.
Claver Carone’s lawyers sent a letter to the investigation – to which Clarín agreed – in which they emphasize that this is an exceptional case.
“No previous incident found in a multilateral body has been triggered by anonymous accusations made outside of a formal complaint process, even in the case of leaders who faced major political controversies unrelated to the specific issues of the investigation. The baseless accusations and the current process that the President has agreed to submit to are unprecedented for a leader of a multilateral body.”
The United States, the bank’s largest shareholder, was aware of the report and was “closely reviewing it,” a spokesman for the US Treasury Department said.
