Pursuant to Sanctions Board Decision No. 78 issued in Sanctions Cases No. 283 and No. 326, the Sanctions Board imposes (i) a sanction of debarment on a public official, Ms. Gonchig Oyungerel (the “Individual Respondent”), for a period of two (2) years and (ii) a sanction of reprimand on the Respondent Firm by means of a formal letter of private reprimand.
This is the first Sanctions Board decision to address allegations of corruption against a public official as a named respondent and impose a sanction on this ground. The Sanctions Board finds that it is more likely than not that the Individual Respondent, as a public official, solicited employment for her daughter from the Respondent Firm and another firm, and obtained employment for her daughter from the Respondent Firm, with the intent to influence her own actions as a project manager serving in a Ministry of Finance under a Bank-financed consultant contract. In so doing, the Individual Respondent engaged in corrupt practices as defined in Paragraph 1.25(a)(i) of the World Bank’s Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers (January 1997, revised in September 1997, January 1999, and May 2002).
The Sanctions Board also finds that it is more likely than not that the Respondent Firm hired the Individual Respondent’s daughter with the intent to influence the Individual Respondent’s actions as a public official in the procurement processes for Bank-financed contracts. In so doing, the Respondent Firm engaged in corrupt practices as defined in Paragraph 1.15(a)(i) of the World Bank’s Guidelines: Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits (January 1995, revised in January and August 1996, September 1997, and January 1999) and Paragraph 1.14(a)(i) of the World Bank’s Guidelines: Procurement under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits (May 2004). The Sanctions Board’s determination of appropriate sanctions takes into account all sanctioning factors applicable to each of the Respondents, including the severity of their misconduct, evidence of voluntary corrective actions, degree of cooperation with the investigation, length of temporary suspension, and passage of time.