“United by greed, they converted the UN into a platform for profit”.
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An official of the Federal Bureau of Investigation said: “The charges announced today are sending a message to those who come to the United States from other countries with corruption plans or bags full of cash – no one is above or beyond the law. He had no knowledge of any of their criminal actions”. There is no allegation that the Chinese government is involved thus far in the investigation, Bharara said standing alongside representatives from the FBI and the IRS, which is still ongoing.
The 61-year-old former United Nations ambassador for Antigua and Barbuda was arrested at his home in Dobbs Ferry outside New York and three others were jailed in the wide-ranging scheme. The complaint alleges that Mr. Ashe shared a portion of the bribes with unnamed senior Antiguan government officials, including the country’s then-prime minister.
In exchange for payments, Ashe submitted a written request to Ban “which claimed that there was a purported need to build the UN Macau Conference Centre”, the complaint said. Attorney information for Mr. Ashe wasn’t available. Ashe and Lorenzo as honorary or official leaders.
Asked while testifying in a court case in Nevada in May about Ng, Sheldon Adelson, Las Vegas Sands’ chairman and chief executive and a top U.S. Republican Party donor, said he had heard of him but said he had no dealings with him.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the government of the eastern Caribbean state of Antigua and Barbuda would fully cooperate with US authorities.
Ng and others used the letter from Ashe to promote the building of the center which was to house a “Global Business Incubator” to foster South-South cooperation in the private sector.
USA investigators are familiar with Ng’s name, which surfaced during a probe into how foreign money might have been brought into the Democratic National Committee before the 1996 elections, when it was working to re-elect President Bill Clinton, Reuters reported. An ethnic Chinese businessman who channeled the payments from Ng was later convicted of violating US campaign finance laws.
The complaint said Mr Ng, through intermediaries, paid Ashe more than $US500,000 ($700,000).
Van Lierop told reporters outside court he expects his client to be vindicated. In return he was paid $500,000. A few of the bribes went to bank accounts Ashe set up to fund his presidency, according to the complaint.
The other five were each charged with bribery and conspiracy. The official and a “law enforcement source” connected Ng to the control of prostitution rackets in the city.
Speaking on the revelations, UPP PRO, Senator Damani Tabor said Spencer “is aware of the serious allegation, and is giving them careful study at this time”. The foundation – which is referred to in the complaint only as “NGO-2” – allegedly began paying Ashe $20,000 every month for his role. “The government has no details regarding the construction project mentioned in news coverage”.
The former United Nations president also used the money to take his family on a vacation and build a basketball court at his home.
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A prosecutor says charges against a former United Nations General Assembly president accused of accepting $1.3 million in bribes may be upgraded.
