UNITED NATIONS : With Rent Overdue, Bills Unpaid, Deadbeat Diplomats Get Scolding
March 25, 1995|STANLEY MEISLER | TIMES STAFF WRITER
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UNITED NATIONS — Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is upset with deadbeat diplomats at the United Nations, who owe more than $7 million to landlords, banks, hospitals, hotels, service stations and other creditors in the New York area.
The embarrassing situation not only angers creditors, he says, but it handicaps other diplomats seeking apartments, medical care and other services.
Not much can be done about the problem aside from scolding. Various forms of diplomatic immunity make it difficult for creditors to put their hands on the money owed them.
In a report to the General Assembly, Boutros-Ghali said 32 of the 185 U.N. members are responsible for the indebtedness. Five of them account for almost $6 million of the total owed. But the problem gets worse every year. Total indebtedness has increased almost sixfold from 1990 to 1994.