Ex-UN worker accused of drugging, assaulting women in Iraq

A former United Nations employee was arrested on Wednesday on two counts of giving false statements to federal agents to cover up the alleged drugging and sexual assault of a woman in Iraq in 2016, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said.

Karim Elkorany, 37, from New Jersey started working in international aid, development and foreign relations for the UN in 2005.  From July 2016 up to April 2018, he worked as a communications specialist for the UN in Iraq.

In 2016, a woman reported that Elkorany had drugged her and sexually assaulted her after she lost consciousness in his apartment in Iraq.

Investigators revealed a pattern of similar crimes that Elkorany had committed against five other women between 2009 and 2016.

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Each time, according to the indictment, Elkorany would inform his victims of the sexual acts they had committed with him after the incident.

He has denied the charges and pleaded not guilty in court.

If found guilty, he would be sentenced to five years in prison for each of the two accounts of making false statements to federal law enforcement agents.

In a statement, the UN said it “appreciates actions by member states to ensure that United Nations personnel who may have engaged in criminal conduct are held accountable, in particular with respect to criminal allegations relating to sexual exploitation and abuse.”