UN
Briber Patrick Ho Conviction
Upheld By 2d Circuit As
Complicit UNSG Refuses Press Qs
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Video, Audio Thread
2D CIR / SDNY,
Dec 28 – Patrick Ho was
sentenced to 36 months in jail
on March 25, 2019 for UN
bribery and having "sold
weapons enthusiastically,"
along with a
$400,000 fine
imposed by U.S. District Court
for the Southern District of
New York Judge Loretta Preska.
Now on
December 28, 2020, his
conviction has been upheld by
a three judge panel of the
Second Circuit Court of
Appeals: "Before: RAGGI, CHIN,
AND SULLIVAN, Circuit Judges.
Defendant-Appellant Chi Ping
Patrick Ho appeals his
conviction after trial in the
Southern District of New York
(Preska, J.) on charges of
conspiracy to violate the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
(“FCPA”), conspiracy to commit
money laundering, substantive
money laundering, and
violations of the FCPA. Ho
argues that (1) the evidence
was insufficient to support
his FCPA conviction
under 2 15 U.S.C. §
78dd-2; (2) the district court
erroneously instructed the
jury that a violation of §
78dd-3 constituted specified
unlawful activity that could
support a money laundering
conviction; (3) the wires at
issue in his money laundering
conviction did not go “to” or
“from” the United States as
required to convict; (4) the
district court abused its
discretion in admitting
certain evidence at trial; and
(5) the indictment was invalid
because it contained material
contradictions and charged Ho
under mutually exclusive
sections of the FCPA. We
reject each of Ho’s arguments
and affirm the district
court’s judgment in all
respects. AFFIRMED."
Inner City
Press has in writing asked the
UN: "What are the comments and
actions if any of SG Guterres,
who has received funds from
Gulbenkian Foundation which
tried to sell its oil company
Partex to CEFC China Energy
(and whose financial
disclosure covering 2016 did
not list the Gulbenkian funds)
to today's news that that US
Second Circuit Court of
Appeals has upheld the
conviction for UN bribery of
CEFC China Energy's Chi Ping
Patrick Ho? And please
disclose business interests
and trips of SG's son Pedro."
No answer: the UN is covering
this up.
During Ho's
trial, covered every day by
Inner City Press which was and
is still banned from entering
the UN amid its reporting
linking current UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres to
the scandal through the
Gulbenkian Foundation from his
he received payments
undisclosed on his public
financial form covering 2016,
an audio
clip was played for the jury,
see below.
Now, while
the Bureau of Prisons' website
still lists Ho's release date
of June 8, 2020 - on June 9,
it still lists that. Is Ho
under quarantine? While
Guterres the bribee slithers
from mansion to Mercedes?
Watch this site.
Back in
mid July Ho filed his appeal
in the Second Circuit Court of
Appeals. And on March
11, 2020 the appeal was heard,
by Circuit Judges Chen, Raggi
and Sullivan (still sitting by
designation on his old SDNY
cases).
Ho's
lawyer began by citing JAM v.
IFC, which is ironic since it
is a Supreme Court case which
chips away at the UN immunity
which allows the bribery that
still takes place in its
walls.
Inner City
Press live tweeted the
argument, here:
AUSA Zolkind says JAM does not
control this case. Judge
Raggi asks about IOIA. Zolkind
quotes back to her 1 of her
own decisions, 556 F.3d 90.
Deft. Oh that Zolkind (&
AUSA Richenthal, also here)
followed through on expanding
corruption at UN of
@AntonioGuterres
Zolkind: Ho was
an agent of a domestic
concern. The statute doesn't
make us choose theories. Judge
Raggi: Doesn't one become a
lesser included offense if the
other? Zolkind: No. Ho used
US-based purported charity for
foreign bribery.
Judge Chen: What
are the distinct wrongs?
Zolkind: Use of US charity,
and Ho coming into US [and UN,
repeatedly, into
@UN_PGA office]
AUSA
Zolkind praises Judge Preska's
statutory construction. Judge
Raggi asks about Ho's wire
(bribe) from #HongKong to
#Uganda
Now AUSA
Zolkind cites a 2017 decision
by Judge Pauley (251 F.Supp.3d
684). Circuit Judge Sullivan
asks if people know their
dollar wires go through the
US. Zolkind: Yes. Ho did deals
in Mexico and "Africa" [and
UN]
Judge Sullivan:
Do you have any case applying
the ligic of JAM to a criminal
statute. Ho's lawyer: We cite
no such case.
Inner City
Press will report the
decision. File review finds
that Patrick Ho met through
the UN, among others,
Croatia's President Kolinda
Grabar-Kitarović (to go along
with CEFC's purchase of the
Czech Republic as then chair
of UN ECOSOC) and the foreign
minister of Turkey. We'll have
more on this - note that the
Guterres-supporting UN
Correspondents Association had
a First Vice President then as
now promoting the Turkish
government.
There is
also this line from Ho's
report to Ye on his UN
lobbying at the highest
levels: We, China Energy Fund
Committee, are willing to
provide support and assistance
in the selection of programs
and topics by the United
Nations. In return, hopes that
they would give more
consideration to the China
factor and more voices to
China when formulating
programs.”
So how is
is possible that Antonio
Guterres has refused to even
begin a UN Office of Internal
Oversight Services of CEFC
China Energy's lobbying and
bribery in the UN? When CEFC
sought to pay Gulbenkian
Foundation which made
undisclosed payments to
Guterres? Inner City Press,
now banned by Guterres from
entering the UN for 375 days
and counting, will have more,
much more, on this.
Inner City
Press has also reported on
CEFC's Ye giving an expensive
diamond to Hunter Biden who
was with UN World Food Program
USA, here.
We'll have more on this, too.
On May 31,
there were sealed filings to
the SDNY court in the Ho case,
filed in the vault. What might
they be? Inner City Press has
asked the US about any process
or request to transfer Ho.
They say he is still in the
Metropolitan Correctional
Center in lower Manhattan:
CHI PING PATRICK
HO Age: 69 Sex: Male
Located at: New York MCC
Here was
the "sealing" notice:
The following
transaction was entered on
5/31/2019 at 2:44 PM EDT and
filed on 5/30/2019 Case
Name: USA v.
Ho Case
Number:
1:17-cr-00779-LAP
Filer:
Document
Number:
232(No document attached)
Docket Text: SEALED
DOCUMENT placed in vault. (rz)
Moves are
afoot in the pro-China
leadership of Hong Kong to
spring Ho free from U.S.
prison - a request it would
seem Guterres and his UN would
support, if only quietly. (In
the interim Guterres visited
China and didn't to Xi raise
the Uighurs, much less China's
repeated bribery in his UN.)
Hong Kong New People's Party
chairwoman Regina Ip Lau
Suk-yee urged Chief Executive
Carrie Lam to file a
request to the United States
to transfer Ho to Hong Kong to
serve the remainder of his
sentence. "According to
my understanding, if the three
sides - namely Hong Kong, the
United States and Ho - agree,
he can be transferred to Hong
Kong or sent to a hospital, so
that he won't suffer that
much," Ip said. Lam said
she would consider Ip's
suggestion. "I will ask
the Secretary for Security
[John Lee Ka-chiu] to study
the arrangement with the
United States and our legal
basis, whether it's us or the
person involved who should
make the request," Lam said.
And if the UN supports, who
would oppose this as it should
be opposed? We'll have more on
this.
In the
audio clip, Ho discusses
offering bribes to now
deceased UN President of the
General Assembly John Ashe,
with Sheri Yan. Inner City
Press is today uploading that
audio, here.
Yan pled
guilty to bribing Ashe as part
of the Ng Lap Seng UN bribery
trial, which Inner City Press
asked covered daily before it
was roughed up and banned from
the UN by Guterres. But now
Yan in a prison novel and
craven revisionist profile
by Kirsty
Needham, China
correspondent
for The Sydney
Morning Herald
and The Age,
is claiming:
"A related UN bribery
investigation involving Ashe
netted another conviction in
March, with former Hong Kong
politician Patrick Ho
sentenced to three
years. Yan says she met
Ho at a conference in Hong
Kong she attended as chief
executive of Ashe’s Global
Sustainability Foundation.
They later attended a public
dinner in New York. They have
“politely” spoken a few
times. “I did meet him –
that is all. "To say I
am working with him to
influence the UN is a very
wrong statement.'" Apparently
The Age has not heard the
extended audio of Yan and Ho
discussing quid pro quo
bribery of Ashe. SMH - shaking
my head. We'll have more on
this.
Back on
March 25, Inner City Press
asked Patrick Ho's defense
lawyer Edward Y. Kim if he
will appeal. We are
considering our options, Kim
said. Post-sentencing
Periscope video here.
Inner City
Press immediately emailed a
question to the UN and
Guterres and his spokesmen on
March 25, and on March 26, and
on March 27, this: "March
27-3: On UN bribery, on March
25 Patrick Ho of the China
Energy Fund Committee was
sentenced to 36 months in
prison and a $400,000 fine for
his UN bribery; in today's
proceeding Ho was described as
using a UN NGO to "sell
weapons enthusiastically."
What now is SG Antonio
Guterres' comment and action?
Will he now begin an audit of
CEFC in the UN? What is
the SG's comment and response
to this
22 minute documentary
about Patrick Ho and CEFC's
bribes through the UN
including Mr. Guterres'
refusal to answer Inner City
Press' question on it on 5
December 2018 at Min 17.
Again, the sentencing
memorandum includes quotes
from his e-mails regarding
aiming to violate sanctions
and deal in arms not only to
Chad but also South Sudan,
Libya & Qatar. What is the
SG's comment and action?
Again, why has no audit even
been begun of CEFC, at least
like the one Mr. Guterres'
predecessor did of Ng Lap
Seng's Sun Kian Ip Foundation?
Why did Mr Guterres omit
payments from Gulbenkian
Foundation, which sought to
sell its oil company Partex to
CEFC China Energy, from his
public financial disclosure
covering 2016? Where are the
more recent public financial
disclosures - has Mr. Guterres
ended that program? Why?"
On March
28 this came in from the UN
and we publish it in full: "On
your question March 27-3, we
can say that the Organization
takes note of the sentencing
of Mr. Chi Ping Patrick Ho to
36 months’ imprisonment and a
US$400,000 fine. The UN has
cooperated extensively in this
matter by making thousands of
pages of documents available
and providing access to its
personnel." What about an
audit? Why hasn't Guterres
disclosed his own financial
links? We'll have more on
this, and on his and the UN's
censorship.
During the
sentencing proceeding it was
said that Ho had, in the MCC,
mentored another inmate
sentenced by Preska. (The odds
of that need to be
calculated.) The MCC bought Ho
a violin; Richenthal said Ho
had hidden and liquidated a
Swiss bank account while
incarcerated. While no
Supervised Release was
ordered, with the
understanding that Ho will be
removed from the U.S. once his
sentence is up, it has emerged
that Ho's passport has expired
and has not been renewed.
We'll have more on this.
While UN
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres was refusing
throughout 2018 to begin any
UN audit into China Energy
Fund Committee, implicated in
the UN bribery prosecution US
v Patrick Ho, Guterres had a
secret: his role
on the board of Gulbenkian
Foundation which was trying to
sell
its Partex Oil affiliate to
CEFC. See Inner City Press'
first exclusive report here.
Now
later of March 25 Ho is set to
be sentenced by U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York Judge
Preska. In the run up, RTHK
Television in Hong Kong has
broadcast a 21 minute documentary,
complete with Guterres
refusing to answer Inner City
Press' questions about the
verdict, here
at Minute 17. With 300,000
views in Chinese, it is set to
be re-released in English
after the sentencing.
While
Guterres continues to ban from
entry the Press which asked
him about his CEFC links, now
in the U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York the sentencing of Patrick
Ho, long set for March 14, has
been pushed back to March 25.
Now the government has filed
its sentencing submission,
asking for at east five years
imprisonment and a fine of
$400,000. It notes Ho's own
emails saying that it is the
Belt and Road Initiative that
is up for sentencing /
implicated: " In one email,
for example, he stated:
“Please tell SH [i.e.,
Shanghai, the headquarters of
CEFC China] that we need
solidarity most at this time,
and cannot be divided. . . .
Please tell SH, if we are on
the same line, with their
support, I will fight to the
very end. For it is not only
HO who is on trial, it is
[CEFC NGO], the Company,
Country and Chinese values are
on trial.” And in a phone
call, he stated that “they,”
apparently referring to the
Government, are using him to
get to the “big tiger,” and to
discredit “The Belt and Road,”
an initiative of the Chinese
government." But it is the UN
too, so corrupted under
Guterres there has yet to be
an audit of CEFC in the UN,
its business with other PGAs
and UN officials, its
invitation to Peter Thomson
and others - and its attempt
to buy the oil company of
Gulbenkian Foundation which
paid money to Guterres. Here
from the sentencing submission
is an indication of whom and
what these UN officials do
business with: " the defendant
sent his assistant an email
stating, “I am going to BJ
[i.e., Beijing] this Friday to
see [the Chairman of CEFC NGO
and CEFC China] on Sat
afternoon. The documents I
want to send him before hand
in separate items are: . . .
7. Iranian connection
(brief).”7 Other items
in the numbered list included
“[a] few PR items in the US
with photo of PGA Kutesa,”
“Chad President Report
(brief),” “Croatia Oil
company,” “PAZ Oil company,”
and “Husky Oil team (Canada).”
On the same date, the
defendant sent his assistant
another email, attaching a
document, which stated, in
pertinent part: 7) Iranian
Connection . . . Iran has
money in a Bank in china which
is under sanction. Iran wishes
to purchase precious metal
with this money. The precious
metal is available through a
Bank in HK which cannot accept
money from the Bank in China
which holds the money but is
under sanction. The Iranian
agent is looking for a Chinese
company acting as a middle man
in such transactions and will
pay commission. (details to be
presented orally) The Iranian
connection has strong urge to
establish trading relationship
with us in oil and products .
. . . The following year, in
June 2015, the defendant
received an email that stated,
in pertinent part: “The
Iranian team will arrive in BJ
. . . . See the attached.” The
attachment referenced in the
email was a PowerPoint
presentation entitled
“Presentation to Potential
Partners Iran Petroleum
Investments'"... an individual
sent the defendant an email,
stating, “I have the list and
end user agreement. Pls advise
next step.” On the same day,
the defendant replied, in
pertinent part, “Find a way to
pass them onto me and we can
execute that right away[].”
The individual replied,
“Attached. [W]e have the
funding and processing
mechanisms in place. If it
works nice there will be much
more. Also for S. Sudan.” The
attachment to this email was a
document entitled “End User
Certificate,” certifying that
the user of the goods in
question would be the Ministry
of Defense of the Republic of
Libya. The goods listed on the
document included numerous
arms, including “mortar
rounds,” “ammunition,”
“anti-tank . . . launcher,”
“rocket launchers,” and
“grenade launchers.” The
following month, the defendant
sent an email that stated in
pertinent part: “It so turns
out Qatar also needs urgently
a list of toys from us. But
for the same reason we had for
Libya, we cannot sell directly
to them. Is there a way you
could act as an intermediary
in both cases?” The person
whom the defendant emailed
replied: “Qatar good chance bc
there is no embargo. Libya is
another case bc going against
an embargo is tricky.” The
defendant responded: “Qatar
needs new toys quite urgently.
Their chief is coming to China
and we hope to give them a
piece of good news. Please
confirm soonest.” Weapons, new
toys for Qatar, the offer of
weapons to Chad for oil - all
through the UN, unaudited by
SG Guterres with his own
conflict of interest and
financial connection to CEFC.
We'll have more on this.
Ho filed a more than one
hundred page sentencing
submission, the memo
accompanying which says
"Beginning in 2013, the CEFC
Think Tank also held annual
symposia at the United Nations
(“UN”) devoted to issues
raised at the most recent
annual political convention in
China. In addition, the CEFC
Think Tank, in consultation
with the UN Department of
Economic and Social Affairs
(“UN-DESA”), established and
funded the “Powering the
Future We Want” grant—an
annual $1 million award for a
promising sustainable energy
project (the “Energy Grant”).
The CEFC Think Tank donated
approximately $2 million to
the UN every year to fund the
prize and its administration."
And yet Guterres has never
audited this, choosing instead
to rough up and ban the Press
which asked him why he
wouldn't audit (the answer
seems to be Guterres' paid
position with the Gulbenkian
Foundation which tried to sell
its oil company to CEFC). Ho's
sentencing submission
index lists Frederick
Tschernutter and former Shell
Oil CEO John D. Hofmeister.
UNSG Antonio Guterres, of
course, has refused to audit
Ho's CEFC's activities in the
amid his conflict of interest
and censorship. In the UN
Committee on Non Governmental
Organizations on January 21
the US belatedly requested the
suspension or
dis-accreditation of CEFC from
the UN. This is what Guterres
has refused to act on for more
than a year, while concealing
his links to the group. CEFC
was given until Friday,
January 25 to answer on the
issues. The acting chief of
the UN NGO branch on Friday
afternoon said it had not
responded. Pakistan and Russia
raised questions if this meant
that as a matter of precedent
it should have its status
withdrawn. On January 28
following a written inquiry by
Inner City Press a
self-described diplomat on the
NGO committee confirmed that
"the NGO Committee recommended
that ECOSOC consultative
status be withdrawn for
CEFC. ECOSOC will decide
whether to approve the NGO
Committee’s recommendation at
its June 2019 ECOSOC
management meeting." So
they're still in. Guterres'
cover up of his link to the
group remains unaddressed -
with no answers from his
spokesmen Stephane Dujarric
and for this entire week,
Farhan Haq. We'll have more on
this.
Inner City Press on the
morning of January 21 wrote to
Guterres, Alison Smale and
their spokesmen: "January
21-1: Please immediately
provide the SG's response on
the request made this morning
in the UN NGO Committee to
disaccredit China Energy Fund
Committee whose Patrick Ho was
indicted and convicted of UN
bribery, explain why SG
Guterres never even started a
OIOS audit of CEFC and why he
omitted his paid directorship
in Gulbenkian Foundation from
his UN Public Financial
Disclosure form covering 2016,
and on Gulbenkian trying to
sell its Partex Oil to CEFC
China Energy in 2018." There's
been no answer - as there have
been no answers from Guterres
and Smale and Dujarric for two
weeks despite promises to UNSR
David
Kaye and on
camera. And the UN's
"meeting summary" omitted even
Patrick Ho's name, much less
the UNSG Guterres never
audited CEFC as it tried to
buy Partex Oil from the
Gulbenkian Foundation Guterres
was a paid board member of
while omitting it from his
public financial disclosure
covering 2016. Here is the
entirety of the UN meetings coverage
on this: "The representative
of the United States,
expressing regret that some
organizations come to the
United Nations to perpetrate
fraudulent and illicit
activities, said her
delegation wrote to the
Committee last week requesting
that the special consultative
status granted in 2011 to the
China Energy Fund Committee be
withdrawn, after one of its
officials was convicted by a
United States federal court in
November 2018 on corruption,
money laundering and
conspiracy charges. The
Committee must take prompt
action, she said, adding that
if the organization in
question wishes to respond, it
should do so before 25
January."
Inner City
Press also wrote to three at
the US Mission to the UN: "I
noticed in the UN NGO
Committee this morning that
USUN belatedly requested a
review of China Energy Fund
Committee, whose Patrick Ho
was indicted for UN bribery,
FCPA and money laundering in
2017, convicted in
2018. This
is a Press request for a copy
of the USUN statement read out
in the NGO Committee, for the
materials reference there in
and distributed to Committee
members, and for the Mission's
/ Amb Cohen's and Amb.
Currie's comment on it, why it
took so long, and on UNSG
Antonio Guterres having not
disclosed his paid
directorship of Gulbenkian
Foundation in his UN Public
Financial Disclosure form
covering 2016 and refusal to
start any OIOS audit of CEFC,
which was trying to buy Partex
Oil and Gas from Gulbenkian in
2018.
Also, on Guterres and Alison
Smale's ongoing ban on
US-based investigative Inner
City Press even entering the
UN, without hearing or appeal,
see 2 January 2019 Kaska-eque
denial of accreditation,
below." USUN Spokesperson John
Degory responded, so far, with
the text of Deputy Rep to
ECOSOC Courtney Nemroff's
remarks... But will the US
administration, or if
necessary individual members
of Congress, ensure that
Guterres is held accountable
for the cover up and
proliferation of corruption
and censorship during his
tenure? CEFC has until January
25 to respond. China did not
respond in the ill-attended
Committee meeting which Inner
City Press, banned from entry
by Guterres, never the less
covered. Watch this site.
Inner City
Press continues its exclusive
series on some of the CEFC
connections in and through the
UN that should have been
identified in the audit that
Guterres corruptly refused to
begin, with his conflict of
interest. (Even his
predecessor Ban Ki-moon
ordered an audit after Ng Lap
Seng was indicted - Guterres
still hasn't after Patrick Ho
was convicted.)
One of the
people identified in the Ban
Ki-moon audit of Ng Lap Seng
and South South News was Ion
Botnaru. He was allowed to
retire, after changing a UN
General Assembly document
along with then President of
the General Assembly John
Ashe, who died under
indictment ostensibly crushed
by his own barbell, to benefit
Ng's Sun Kian Ip group.
Botnaru reappears again with
CEFC, here.
And, crying out for audit, the
President of the General
Assembly who swore in
Guterres, Peter Thomson of
Fiji, traveled like Ashe and
Vuk Jeremic and Sam Kutesa to
meet CEFC's Ye Jianming in
Hong Kong.
Inner City
Press has asked Guterres and
his spokespeople, among many
other questions, "Beyond the
37 questions from Inner City
Press you refused to answer
last week, still set forth
below for promised answer,
this is a request, given that
Peter Thomson is the SG's rep
on Oceans that you describe in
detail Thomson's 2017 meeting
with now disappeared Ye
Jianming of CEFC, name which
UN DSS officials were with him
and what reports they filed,
what their duties were; what
was seen by those accompanying
Thomson, at least two of whom
are still in the UN (one is
with China)."
Typically,
Guterres and his spokespeople
did not answer. So here,
pending listing those from UN
Department of Safety and
Security the group which
roughs up the Press without
accountability and maintains a
retaliatory "lifetime" banned
from the UN list, are the
names: "During his two-day
visit, the President of the UN
General Assembly was
accompanied by his senior
advisors Abdelghani Merabet,
and Zhang Yi, as well as by
the UN Department of Economic
and Social Affairs’s Director
of the Division for
Sustainable Development, Zhu
Juwang." Now, Thomson staffer
or embed Zhang Yi has gone
(back, or more openly) to working
for the Chinese government:
"On August 14 [2018], Deputy
Director-General of China
International Center for
Economic and Technical
Exchanges Zhang Yi was invited
to attend the FOCAC -
Africa-China Poverty Reduction
and Development Conference, an
important sub-forum under the
FOCAC hosted by the State
Council Leading Group Office
of Poverty Alleviation and
Development and co-organized
by the International Poverty
Reduction Center in China and
the China Belt and Road
Institute for Agricultural
Cooperation of China
Agriculture University.
Attending were more than 300
participants including
government officials,
international organizations’
representatives,
non-governmental
organizations’ officials,
business leaders, experts and
scholars from China, United
States, Japan, Denmark and 40
African countries like Angola,
Botswana and Mauritius."
What did
they see during Thomson's
meeting with now-known briber
Ye Jianming? Zhu Juwang
is still with UN DESA;
Abdelghani Merabet is
with the current PGA. We'll
have more on this: the UN
should be answering these
questions, now.
In 2017,
the year in which CEFC's
Patrick Ho was indicted and
arrested for UN bribery, CEFC
in the UN engaged at least
twice with Lenni Montiel,
including for example on 6
July 2017, and also with DESA
official Pingfan Hong. Some
photos here.
Inner City Press before
Guterres had it roughed up and
banned now 176 days for its
inquiries into Guterres'
corruption has politely
questioned both Montiel and
Hong - but Guterres has made
that impossible and his
Spokesmen refused to answer
any written questions, for
more than a week now. There
are more connections.
Guterres
got favors from Peter Thomson
when Thomson was President of
the General Assembly.
Rudimentary open source
research - including on the
UN's own website here - finds
that Thomson, like implicated
Sam Kutesa and John Ashe and
Vuk Jeremic, visited CEFC's Ye
Jianming in Hong Kong. What
was discussed? Inner City
Press previously covered,
critically but civilly,
Thomson. Now corrupt Guterres
has had Inner City Press
roughed up and banned 175
days, with his Spokesman
Stephane Dujarric refusing to
answer any questions despite
the promise of Guterres' USG
Alison Smale.
After receiving favors from
Thomson as PGA, Guterres gave
him a job in his Secretariat,
Representative on Oceans. Here
is Patrick Ho, interviewed by
Guterres' DESA, on Oceans.
There should have been an
audit. There still should be.
Another of Guterres' special
advisers, Jeffrey Sachs, after
denying Inner City Press'
documented report Sachs was on
a UN - CEFC board, abruptly
closed his Twitter account,
story here.
Guterres goes on robo-tweeting
from parts unknown, spending
public money undisclosed.
Guterres should explain and /
or resign. We will have
more in this series.
A
now-removed
Gulbenkian Foundation web page
says Guterres continued as a
board member into 2018. Archived
here.
In
fact it was on 9 February 2018
that Gulbenian tweeted
that Guterres was no longer on
the board - AFTER it was
reported that Gulbenian was
trying to sell, or even had
already sold, Partex to CEFC.
This is called guilty
knowledge.
While
Guterres' spokesman Stephane
Dujarric is refusing to answer
Inner City Press' written
questions, contrary to
promises by Guterres' Global
Communicator Alison Smale, it
appears Guterres' evasive
defense is claiming that he
left Gulbenkian in November
2016 and therefore somehow had
no conflict of interest in
refusing and blocking the
obviously needed UN audit of
CEFC after the arrest of its
Patrick Ho for UN bribery.
This defense is dubious.
Why did
Gulbenkian take
down its webpage
disclosing that Guterres
remained on board into 2018?
Why - sixteen months after
Guterres ostensibly left - did
they wait until February 2018
to tweet
that he left? Because their
negotiations with CEFC became
public (see 2 February 2018
Bloomberg here,
and 6 February MacauHub here:
"CEFC China Energy buys
Portugal’s Partex Oil &
Gas.")
In any
event, Guterres' "2017"
Financial Disclosure, which
explicitly says it covered the
year 2016 in which even in
this new story he remained on
Gulbenkian's board into
November, more than 80% of the
year - did not disclose his
role in Gulbenkian, only on
the Club of Madrid. Guterres
has had previous financial
disclosure omissions, for
example in Portugal, here.
CEFC was hardly unknown: it
bought a Portuguese insurance
company in November 2017, here.
Guterres' failure to disclose
and, separately and even more
so, his refusal to audit CEFC
in the UN was a direct
conflict of interest, which he
has tried to cover up by
roughing up and banning Inner
City Press which asked him
about it. (See January 2018
press conference here,
July 2018 roughing up by
Guterres' UN Security here,
banning letter via Press
Freedom Tracker here.)
***
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