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Berlin (UPI) Nov 12, 2010 The German opposition Friday put pressure on Chancellor Angela Merkel's government over media reports claiming that an aid group in Berlin tasked with teaching good governance in Afghanistan and Iraq embezzled millions in federal money. The parliamentary faction of the Green Party Friday sent a parliamentary inquest to Merkel's office. It wants the government to look into allegations that Berlin aid group AGEF last year defrauded the government of at least $1.4 million worth of taxpayer's money. The government has two weeks to answer the Green Party's questions -- on how much AGEF has been paid over the past years, what Berlin did to prevent a potential fraud and why it keeps working with AGEF after Denmark, for example, terminated cooperation with the group following doubts about the quality of its work. The inquest comes after the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung on Nov. 1 broke the story that AGEF overcharged Berlin on economic aid projects in Afghanistan. Citing internal AGEF documents, the newspaper claims that the Berlin organization received around $5 million for projects in Afghanistan that required only $3.6 million. The daily cites the specific case of AGEF's economic reintegration program, which is to help Afghans returning from Germany to find a job in their new country, as an example of how money was embezzled. AGEF documents indicate the group transferred aid worth around $55,000 to 34 Afghans returning to their home country. At the same time, AGEF allegedly charged the government nearly $500,000 -- and said it had helped 278 people. AGEF allegedly hired Afghan forgers to fabricate identities and paid off staff of the Afghan Labor Ministry to stage the fraud. Via an office in Amman, Jordan, AGEF disguised the flow of cash, the NOZ writes. Company founder Klaus Duennhaupt, in a statement posted Thursday on the group's Web site, said the allegations were "incorrect" and added that he had authorized his lawyers to take legal action against the newspaper reports. Berlin prosecutors have nevertheless launched an investigation. The allegations could prove an embarrassment for the German government, which has vowed to fight corruption and boost good governance in Afghanistan, where around 5,000 German troops are stationed with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Founded in 1992, AGEF has run several government-funded aid projects in the Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq and continues to be paid for ongoing work. For its program to reintegrate young Afghan poppy farmers into the job market, Berlin has set aside around $1.5 million for 2010. In Iraq, where Germany has no troops but finances aid projects, AGEF is running a training program for lawyers and government staff. Its key themes: Democratic values and good governance.
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