Thai Hostages Still Missing a Year After Hamas Attack

[webfact]

U.S. jury finds Macau billionaire guilty in U.N. bribery case

By Jonathan Stempel

 

FILE PHOTO - Macau real estate developer Ng Lap Seng, accused of bribing former United Nations General Assembly president John Ashe, exiting U.S Federal Court in New York, New York U.S., June 27, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Thursday found Macau billionaire Ng Lap Seng guilty on charges he bribed two United Nations ambassadors to help him build a multibillion-dollar conference centre.

 

Ng, 69, was convicted on all six counts he faced, including bribery, money laundering and corruption, in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Jurors needed less than a day to reach a verdict, following a four-week trial.

 

"In his unbridled pursuit of even greater personal fortune, billionaire Ng Lap Seng corrupted the highest levels of the United Nations," Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said after the verdict. "Through bribes and no-show jobs, Ng turned leaders of the league of nations into his private band of profiteers."

 

Tai Park, a lawyer for Ng, said in court that his client had "substantial" legal issues to raise on appeal. Park later declined to comment to reporters.

 

Prosecutors accused Ng of paying more than $1 million in bribes to bypass the normal hassles of dealing with the United Nations, with a dream of winning "fame and more fortune" by developing in Macau what he thought of as the "Geneva of Asia."

 

Ng hoped the conference centre, meant to serve developing countries, would pave the way for luxury housing, hotels, a shopping mall, marinas and a heliport, prosecutors said.

 

Defense lawyers countered that Ng's goals were consistent with the types of public-private partnerships that the United Nations favors, and that other diplomats abused Ng's trust.

 

The conference centre was never built.

 

U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said that body is considering its "next steps as a victim of these crimes."

 

Ng has been free on $50 million bail, living under 24-hour guard in a luxury Manhattan apartment.

 

After Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Richenthal warned that Ng could now be a flight risk, U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick modified bail by subjecting Ng to house arrest.

 

"He is not to leave the apartment: no ifs, ands or buts about it," the judge said.

 

Broderick scheduled an Aug. 7 hearing to decide whether to revoke bail.

 

Prosecutors said the recipients of Ng's bribes were Francis Lorenzo, a former deputy ambassador from the Dominican Republic, and John Ashe, a former U.N. General Assembly president and ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda.

 

Lorenzo pleaded guilty to bribery and money laundering, and testified against Ng for more than a week after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors.

 

Ashe was also criminally charged, but died accidentally at home in June 2016 after dropping a barbell on his neck.

 

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by Bernard Orr and James Dalgleish)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-28

[klauskunkel]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

billionaire Ng Lap Seng corrupted the highest levels of the United Nations

I'm sure he needed to work really hard on that

[impulse]

43 minutes ago, klauskunkel said:

4 hours ago, webfact said:

billionaire Ng Lap Seng corrupted the highest levels of the United Nations

I'm sure he needed to work really hard on that

 

I suspect it would have been much harder to say no.

 

[mvdf]

No wonder this is a much hated country. I myself despise this North American country. They interfere with the affairs of other countries in a manner so hypocritical and audacious. They regard other countries as an extension of their jurisdiction, prosecuting even someone from Macau which, last time I checked, is not part of this trigger-happy country.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2017 by mvdf

[craigt3365]

6 minutes ago, mvdf said:

No wonder this is a much hated country. I myself despise this North American country. They interfere with the affairs of other countries in a manner so hypocritical and audacious. They regard other countries as an extension of their jurisdiction, prosecuting even someone from Macau which, last time I checked, is not part of this trigger-happy country.

So you are saying corruption is OK?  It's alright for your country's rep to the UN to be bribed by wealthy businessmen to get around the law?

 

You need to research what happened here before posting BS.  You are aware of where the UN headquarters is located?  Where the bribes took place? 

 

Too funny...what country are you from?

[MyFriend You]

Ashe was also criminally charged, but died accidentally at home in June 2016 after dropping a barbell on his neck.

 

That kind of money will getcha killed, maybe his spotter had sweaty hands??  Doubt it.  Ya know what they say "Snitches get Stitches"  or in this case, barbells across the throat.  

[Ulic]

This is simply the way the UN works and the cost of doing business.

As the convention center was never built and he did not profit in any

way, no harm no foul as far as I am concerned. The UN is corrupt

as are almost all governments. Horse trading votes in the US congress

may not be illegal but it is corrupt as far as I am concerned. So are

the lobby groups making donations to election/re-election campaigns.

Money for votes to pass legislation benefiting their corporate masters.

All so congressman/senators can stay in power. Nothing to do with the

public good.

[Andaman Al]

This guy is facing a loooooong time in jail !! I would be digging through the floor to the apartment below now because he has little to lose by trying to do a runner. Either way I doubt he will get out of jail.

[ukrules]

Ashe was also criminally charged, but died accidentally at home in June 2016

after dropping a barbell on his neck.

 

Yeah right, that kind of thing happens all the time.