http://www.timesonl ine.co.uk/ tol/news/ world/europe/ article3822615. ece
From The Sunday Times
April 27, 2008
Ousted for exposing ‘scam’ of EU chief
Nicola Smith in Brussels

A British whistleblower who exposed alleged corruption at a European aid agency
faces the sack after he told EU fraud investigators that his boss was involved
in the scam.

Terry Battersby, 53, from Manchester, has been removed from his job as head of
information technology at the Brussels-based Centre for the Development of
Enterprise (CDE) and placed on a short-term contract.

Battersby uncovered evidence that the agency’s former director, Hamed Sow, who
is now the energy minister of the west African country of Mali, approved the
award of lucrative European Union contracts to a company in which he had a
financial interest.

Sow is alleged to have arranged for the CDE to back a loan of nearly £3m to a
textile company in Mali, without disclosing that he owned up to 20% of the
company and was receiving payments from the firm.

The CDE, set up to support the private sector in poor countries, receives more
than £14ma year in taxpayers’ money from the EU.

Two years ago Battersby discovered documents showing Sow’s apparent conflict of
interest, and passed them to the EU’s antifraud investigators.

Brian Simpson, a Labour MEP, said Battersby had been the victim of a
“witch-hunt” for having the courage to speak out. Battersby, who has worked at
the CDE for 16 years, is now on a temporary six-month contract, after being
denied a permanent job.

Documents seen by The Sunday Times establish that in 2001 Sow received £315,000
for advising Fitina, a cotton processor in Mali. He owned at least 15% of Fitina
at the time when the European Investment Bank (EIB), backed by Sow, gave the
company a loan of just under £3m.

Details of Sow’s links with Fitina emerged in a report by the fraud-busters last
week. A spokesman for the EIB said: “If we had been aware of the alleged
financial relationship between Sow and the company, the loan would not have been
paid.”

Speaking from Mali last week, Sow denied any wrongdoing and blamed the
allegations on a “disgruntled British employee”.

He said he had entered into a contract with Fitina at a time when he thought he
would be returning to Mali to run the firm and had ended his relationship with
the company about four years ago.

Mali is one of the poorest and most corrupt nations on earth. Sow is widely
tipped to be its next prime minister.

http://www.dutchnew s.nl/news/ archives/ 2009/02/antifrau d_european_ mp_stands_ d.php
Anti-fraud European MP stands down
Monday 23 February 2009

Dutch member of the European parliament Paul van Buitenen will stand
down at the next European elections in June because of the EU body's
reluctance to seriously tackle fraud.

He told tv programme Reporter on Sunday that he was 'very
disappointed' that no action had been taken on the cases of fraud he
had brought to light.

Van Buitenen was an EU civil servant when in 1999 he blew the whistle
on fraud and irregularities within the EU commission. The commission
subsequently resigned en masse.

He became a Euro MP in 2004 with his party Europa Transparant and
continued his campaign to have the EU cleaned up. He told tv programme
Buitenhof in 2004 that his whistleblowing had made him 'a pariah' and
his computer had been searched.

Last March, Van Buitenen published a short summary of a major report
into European MP's salary and expense abuses, which the parliament
itself voted to keep secret.

A British campaign group published the full report this weekend,
reports the BBC. It reveals that European MPs can earn up €1m during
their five-year term from making savings on their expenses and pension
benefits.