Six charged in alleged U.N. corruption scheme
NEW YORK - U.S. authorities Tuesday announced charges against six people in an alleged United Nations corruption and bribery scheme involving millions of dollars in secret payoffs to a former president of the world body's General Assembly.
John Ashe, the former U.N. ambassador for Antigua and Barbuda, accepted more than $3 million in bribes and other payments from business officials to back construction of a U.N.-sponsored conference center in Macau, China and advance the alleged plotters' business plans at the U.N. and with senior Antiguan officials during his 2013-2014 term as General Assembly president, according to a federal court complaint.
In exchange for the payments, Ashe allegedly submitted a document to the U.N. Secretary General's office showing a need for the conference center. He also shared a portion of the payments with senior officials of Antigua, including the country's then-prime minister, the court complaint charged.
The suspects channeled and concealed the alleged bribes by using U.S.-based non-governmental organizations purportedly established to promote the U.N.'s official mission and development goals, the complaint charged.
Ashe allegedly used the payments for personal expenses, including a family vacation and construction of a basketball court at his home in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., a suburb roughly 25 miles north of the U.N.'s Manhattan headquarters.
He also used payments from the non-governmental organizations to pay the mortgage on the home, cover lease payments on a BMW automobile and buy luxury items such as Rolex watches, the complaint charged.
Ashe allegedly under-reported his income to the IRS by more than $1.2 million in tax years 2013 and 2014.
Other suspects charged include Francis Lorenzo, the deputy permanent representative to the U.N. from the Dominican Republic, Ng Lap Seng, a Chinese national and head of a real estate development company based in Macau, and Jeff Yin, Ng's chief assistant.
Lorenzo allegedly served as an agent for Ng and received a $20,000 monthly salary from the businessman, the complaint charged. Ng allegedly sent additional payments to a Dominican Republic company where a Lorenzo relative serves as general manager.
Ng and Yin repeatedly entered the U.S. with large amounts of cash, the complaint alleged. They flew into JFK International Airport in New York City in March 2014 with $300,000 in cash. They arrived by private plane in Anchorage, Alaska with $900,000 in cash on July 5, 2015. Two days later, flew to New York City, where they met with Lorenzo at a hotel, the complaint charged.
Shiwei Yan and Heidi Hong Piao, naturalized U.S. citizens who chiefly reside in China, were also charged in the alleged plot. Yan is chief executive officer of a non-government organization based in New York City, and Piao is the organization's finance director, federal prosecutors charged.
Yan And Piao allegedly began paying Ashe $20,000 a month in Aug. 2013 for serving as honorary chairman of the non-government organization, the complaint charged.
There was no immediate response to a message seeking comment Tuesday from the permanent U.N. Mission of Antigua and Barbuda. The Dominican Republic's U.N. Mission declined to comment on the allegations.
"If proven, today’s charges will confirm that the cancer of corruption that plagues too many local and state governments infects the United Nations as well," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement announcing the charges. "As alleged, for Rolexes, bespoke suits, and a private basketball court, John Ashe, the 68th President of the UN General Assembly, sold himself and the global institution he led. United in greed, the defendants allegedly formed a corrupt alliance of business and government, converting the UN into a platform for profit."
Charges in the case include conspiracy to bribe a U.N. official, bribe payments, conspiracy to commit money laundering, subscribing to false federal tax returns and conspiracy to make false statements about cash brought into the U.S.
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