After
UN Bribery
Verdict on
China Energy
Fund Committee
Another Ye
Group Also
Still In
Corrupt UN of
Guterres
By Matthew
Russell Lee, CJR PFT CEFC
Video
UNITED NATIONS,
December 17 – At the UN under
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres there has been
entirely unaddressed bribery,
including offers of weapons
for oil by UN non governmental
organization China Energy Fund
Committee of Ye Jianming which
Guterres refuses to even audit
- while roughing
up and banning
the Press which asks him about
it. Guterres refusal to
initiate any audit, as even
Ban Ki-moon did after the
indictment of Ng Lap Seng for
also bribing UN President of
the General Assembly John
Ashe, has allowed not only
CEFC but another Ye Jianming
NGO, known by names including
the China Academy of Culture
and the China Cultural
Institute, to remain in the
UN. In a 22 August 2017 press
release, soon before the
arrest and indictment of
CEFC's Patrick Ho, this entity
bragged: "Recommended by the
UN NGO Committee of 19
countries, the UN Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC)
conducted its final review in
New York in July 2017 and
officially approved the
granting of the Chinese
Cultural Council to the UN
Economic and Social Council in
August. status". This is the
first non-governmental
organization approved by the
United Nations to promote the
"special consultative status"
of Chinese culture. It is a
high priority for Chinese
culture and an affirmation of
the work of the Chinese
Cultural Institute created by
China Huaxin. This marks the
establishment of a formal
cooperative relationship
between the two sides,
providing a new stage for the
Chinese Cultural Institute to
further carry out
international cooperation and
exchanges and to tell the
Chinese story.
Since its establishment, the
Chinese Cultural Institute,
under the leadership of
Chairman Ye Jianming and under
the leadership of all
directors, has implemented the
"One Body and Two Wings" work
principle proposed by
President Xu Jialu with the
purpose of "promoting the
culture of Chinese culture and
harmonious world." This is the
same Ye Jianming who used UN
accredited CEFC to bribe PGA
Sam Kutesa, and to offer
weapons for oil and a stake in
the Chad Cameroon pipeline to
Idriss Deby. Guterres refusal
to audit, and his and his
spokesman's refusal to even
answer questions, make clear
how corrupt the UN has become
and that both should go. On
1 December 2018, before seven
UN bribery guilty verdicts
against Patrick Ho of China
Energy Fund Committee, Inner
City Press reported that
Jeffrey Sachs, a long time UN
(part time) official, was on a
CEFC-UN Advisory Board, and
tweeted the photograph, here.
On December 15
Sachs denied
it, saying it is absurd.
Really? Pressed, Sachs said "I attended
an annual luncheon on two
occasions (1 per year) hosted
by the Chinese Gov for UN
Ambassadors, which CEPC
apparently catered. I
once went to a HK reception
Mr. Ho was present.
That's it." Really? China
Energy Fund Committee was more
than a caterer. And this
denial shows more clearly than
ever why an audit of with whom
CEFC has dealt with at and
through the UN is necessary,
and how irresponsible or worse
Guterres is being. On December 17 Inner
City Press in
writing asked
Guterres and his
spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, "December
17-7: On CEFC in the
wake of the US v Ho
verdicts, this is a
request that the SG
confirm and act on the
other UN officials
depicted as advisers
to CEFC and its UN
program - including
Jeffrey Sachs, who has
over the weekend
online denied any such
role, stating he may
have attended a lunch
“catered” by CEFC.
Since this denial
shows the absolute
need for an audit at
least like the
previous SG did of Ng
Lap Seng's groups,
please state why the
SG has not even begun
such an audit." Five
hours later, Dujarric
had not answer this or
any other question
from banned
Inner City Press.
And those he allowed
in "his" briefing
room did not ask.
Inner
City Press has
published the
CEFC document listing Sachs'
role, here
on Scribed, here
for download on Patreon.
Need
for UN Audit Shown By ... by on
Scribd
It also
lists UN officials including Warren
Sach, as well as Mr. José Manuel Viegas
(Portugal) Secretary-General of the
International Transport Forum (ITF) at
the OECD; Mr. Sun Xiansheng (China)
Secretary-General of the International
Energy Forum (IEF); Ms. Marie-José
Nadeau (Canada) Chair of the World
Energy Council; Mr. Thanin Pa-Em
(Thailand) Deputy Secretary-General at
the Office of the National Economic and
Social Development Board; Mr. Zhang
Guobao (China) Former Director of
China’s National Energy Administration;
Mr. Christopher Martenson (USA) Economic
Researcher, Writer and Trend Forecaster;
Dr. Ken Koyama (Japan) Chief Economist
and Managing Director at the Institute
of Energy Economics in Japan (IEEJ); Dr.
Christoph Frei (Switzerland); Dr. Milica
Bajiæ-Brkoviæ (Serbia) Former President
of ISOCARP, Member of the Executive
Committee of International Society of
City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP);
Dr. José Goldemberg (Brazil); Mr. Mark
Fulton (UK) Founding Partner of Energy
Transition Advisors Pty Ltd; Dr. Nawal
Al-Hosany (UAE) Director of
Sustainability at Masdar City; Dr. Leena
Srivastava (India) Honorary Executive
Director at The Energy and Resources
Institute; Mr.
John
Hofmeister
(USA) Founder
& Chief
Executive of
Citizens for
Affordable
Energy, Former
President of
Shell Oil
Company and,
yes, Dr.
Jeffrey Sachs (USA) Director of
The Earth Institute, Special
Advisor to UN SG. We'll have
more on this - and on the role
of current UN Development
Program Executive Director Achim
Steiner. See photos here,
from a CEFC brochure which they
have tried to cover up.
Three years ago
Macau based businessman Ng Lap
Seng was arrested and charged
with bribing
UN General Assembly President
Josh Ashe and others, though
Sun Kian Ip Foundation and
other groups still in the UN.
Ng was convicted
of multiple violations of the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
(FCPA) and money laundering.
But the issue of faux NGO
purchase of the UN hasn't
gone away. In fact, a second
UN bribery case ended this
week in the US District Court
for the Southern District of
New York with seven guilty
verdicts.
In this second
case, Patrick Ho was found
guilty of seven of eight
counts of FCPA and month
laundering. (He was only not
guilty on money laundering in
Chad - where the bribe was not
through any US bank but in
cash, $2 million in a gift
box). The evidence showed that
the NGO he ran, China Energy
Fund Committee, used its
ongoing UN consultative status
to pay bribes to Ugandan
foreign minister - and Ashe's
successor as President of the
UN General Assembly -- Sam
Kutesa. He was working
with precedessor Vuk
Jeremic while Jeremic
was UN PGA. CEFC even offered
weapons, tanks and drones, to
Chad's long time president
Idriss Deby for oil blocks or
a stake in the Chad Cameroon
pipeline. (Inner City Press
published documents here.)
The night of the
verdict I asked UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres what
he will do to clean up the UN,
where he has left CEFC without
any audit, still in
consultative status with the
UN. On his way from his
Mercedes to a glitzy
fundraiser including George
and Amal Clooney, Guterres refused to
answer. The next day when
asked by another journalist
why Guterres had refused to
answer banned Inner City
Press' question, his spokesman
Stephane Dujarric claimed that
the UN has “cooperated” with
the prosecution. But the
bribery group remains in the
UN, unaudited.
Why has the case
of US versus Ho, and now the
guilty verdicts, garnered
relatively so little interest,
with the corruption of the UN
exposed by it scarcely
mentioned all? SG Guterres is
hoping it goes away. In terms
of corruption, he did not
disclose and refuses to answer
on the African business links
of his son Pedro Guimarães e
Melo De Oliveira Guterres. He
refuses to answer how much he
spends in public funds flying
to his home in Lisbon
at least sixteen times sofar
as SG.
So
CEFC remains an accredited non
governmental organization with
the UN's Economic and Social
Council, while investigative
Inner City Press for which I
have been covering the case
has been dis-accredited by and
ousted from the UN, put on a
list of those permanently
banned without notice, due
process or appeal. On December
7 I was
informed I am banned
from a “UN Human Rights” event
on December 10 to be addressed
by Guterres and his human
rights commissioner Michelle
Bachelet. But this reporting
will not stop - Guterres'
corruption of the UN must be
addressed, through oversight
or as is discussed elsewhere,
impeachment. From the lofty
goals of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights to
Guterres' censorship for
corruption is UNacceptable.
With UN High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights
Michelle
Bachelet
and her Deputy Andrew Gilmour
set to speak in the UN on
human rights day on December
10, Inner City Press responded
to an invitation and was told,
"Thank you for registering to
attend the Human Rights Day
event at the United Nations on
Monday 10 December. On Monday,
please come to the UN
Visitors’ Gate on First Avenue
opposite 45th street starting
at 2pm, at which time entry
passes will be distributed."
Then, past six
p.m. on Friday, December 7 this
from Bachelet's and Gilmour's
Office of the High
Commissioner
for Human
Rights: "Dear
Matthew, We
have received
notification
from UN
Security that
your name was
flagged as
"BARRED" on
the list we
submitted for
passes for
Monday's event
(3pm, ECOSOC
Chamber). We
will therefore
not have a
pass for you
and are unable
to facilitate
entry.
Thank you for
your interest
and best
regards,
OHCHR New York
Office." Photo
of email here.
Inner City Press
immediately wrote back,
to the sender
and
Bachelet and
her assistant, to
Andrew Gilmour
and to the
moderator of
the event, "Particularly
since you are the UN Office of the
High Commissioner for *Human
Rights,* did you not ask why a
journalist who asks the Secretary
General and his spokesmen about
the killings in Cameroon,
Burundi, UN
corruption, UN peacekeepers'
sexual abuse of civilians,
and Sri
Lanka, is “BARRED” from
attending your human rights event
- without any hearing or appeal? I
will appreciate your Office's
answer to this." We'll
have more on this.
Bachelet
gave a speech on
October 15 in the UN's Third
Committee, she emphasized a
prioritization of social and
economic rights and said one
of the officials of her office
is "on mission in
Silicon Valley" in the
US. There are questions
about this - but Inner City
Press which has covered human
rights and the UN for more
than a decade was for the
first time banned from access
a High Commissioner's speech.
This has been raised repeated
to Bachelet since she took
office but she has so far done
nothing, not even responded.
Meanwhile on October 12
Cameroon, from whose Paul Biya
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres took a golden statue
and favors in the Fifth
(Budget) Committee and remains
silent on the slaughter of
Anglophones, was elected to a
seat on the UN Human Rights
Council. This system is
failing - but if Bachelet
cannot even answer on Guterres
maintaining a secret banned
list including not only Inner
City Press but also "political
activists" - and anti-corruption
campaigners -
then the UN of Guterres has
hit its
newest low.
***
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