A report by a panel of U.N. experts released to the media this week accused the internationally recognized government of implementing a scheme to illegally divert to traders $423 million in Saudi money. The report says the funds were meant to buy rice and other supplies for Yemenis suffering from the country's six-year civil war. “The government of Yemen is, in some cases, engaging in money-laundering and corruption practices that adversely affect access to adequate food supplies for Yemenis, in violation of the right to food,” the panel said. According to the U.N. report, the country’s Aden-based central bank deviated from standard trade finance procedures and manipulated the foreign exchange market to launder “a substantial part” of the Saudi funds in “a sophisticated” scheme. The $423 million scheme involved illegally transferring public money to traders, with 48% going to a single holding corporation, the Hayel Saeed Anam Group, known as HSA. The U.N. experts also accused the Houthi rebels of diverting at least $1.8 billion in aid funds in 2019 that was supposed to go to the government to pay salaries and provide basic services to citizens. The report said the Houthis perform government functions including collecting taxes and other state revenue, “a large portion of which is used to fund their war effort” — not to help the Yemeni people.