The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl resigned Wednesday to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, hours after he was transferred to administrative leave on suspicion of corruption.
Dujarric said the preliminary findings of a report received by Guterres from the agency's oversight service exclude charges of fraud or embezzlement of funds for Krähenbühl, a Swiss who has been UNRWA's commissioner for more than five years.
Last summer, an internal confidential report by the UNRWA Ethics Committee accused the outgoing Commissioner-General and his staff of using their positions for personal ends, and two senior Agency officials resigned.
The report cited serious violations that took place at the highest levels of the agency's organizational structure, which suffered a financial crisis after US funding was cut last year, and part of the accusations related to the Commissioner-General.
The "strong allegations" referred to in the UNRWA report include the involvement of senior managers in "sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuse of power for personal gain or the suppression of legitimate opposition, and to achieve their personal goals."
The United Nations said it had appointed Christian Saunders as acting Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on a temporary basis.