AWB trading manager Peter Geary has become the first senior executive from the organisation to admit it did not have good corporate governance.
His superior Andrew Lindberg has denied the board's culture was one of the end justifying the means.
The Cole inquiry has spent close to two weeks closely examining AWB managers and their knowledge of deals to inflate wheat prices to channel money to the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime, and to collect and pay debts to others.
In the face of extensive documentation Mr Lindberg and Mr Geary admitted varying degrees of knowledge.
They confirmed that contract to sell wheat to Iraq were approved under the oil-for-food program, without the United Nations knowing about the side deals.
It has become clear details of sanction-busting deals went to significant numbers of AWB staff, leading to Mr Geary's concession that the AWB did not have a tight rein on governance issues.
ABC Online
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