UN
Bribery Company CEFC Reportedly
Seized by Shanghai, ICP Asks Why
Still In ECOSOC
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Video,
Q&A,
HK here
UNITED NATIONS,
March 2 – Three months after
the arrest for UN
bribery of Patrick Ho,
the head of China Energy Fund
Committee full funded by CEFC
China Energy, his ultimate
boss at CEFC Ye Jianming has
reportedly been brought in for
questioning in China. Now
management and day to day
operations of CEFC have been
taken over by the Shanghai
city government's investment
arm, Shanghai Guosheng Group
Company, according to the
SCMP. This comes while the UN,
embroiled in a second
corruption case involving Ng
Lap Seng whose assistant
Jeffrey Yim was sentenced to
seven months in prison on
February 28 (Inner City Press
coverage here),
has yet to even remove CEFC
from its "special consultative
status" to the UN Economic and
Social Council. Now with the
Chinese government taking
action, for whatever its
reason, will the UN belatedly
move? Inner City Press asked
UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric
on March 1, video here,
UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: this China
Energy Fund Committee (CEFC)
case, the head of the whole
organization in China has been
called in for questioning, Mr.
Ye Jianming. And I
wanted to know, because it
seems like since that
indictment in November, China
Energy Fund Committee has
remained with special
consultative status…
Spokesman: We've… I've
answered that question
already. That is an
issue… the Member States… a
Member State committee grants
that special consultative
status to the NGO. That
Member State committee needs
to act if they want to
withdraw that status. Inner
City Press: António Guterres
is the head of the UN
system. Does he have…
does he have… has he taken
note that there are two
separate developing UN
corruption cases involving
briberies taking place at the
UN and what’s his response…?
Spokesman: We're very
much aware of the issue and
our legal counsel… our legal
office is cooperating on these
cases with the national
authorities." We'll have more
on this claim. Tellingly,
Reuters which barely covers
the UN corruption cases - in
fact, it has a board seat on
the UN Correspondents
Association which accepted
$50,000 from Ng Lap Seng's
South South News - "reports"
on the question of
Ye Jianming
and CEFC's business in the Czech
Republic, Russia (last
year's deal for a 14 percent
stake in Rosneft PJSC
for $9 billion) and Kazakhstan
without even MENTIONING
the indictment of Ho of CEFC,
and the clear reference to Ye
Jianming
in the indictment, in
connection with Sam Kutesa and
the Uganda scheme. We'll have
more on this. Ho was denied
bail on February 5, in a
lengthy oral order that found
the weight of evidence against
him substantial. On November
20, the US Attorney for the
Southern District of New York
issued an indictment against
the head of the UN ECOSOC
accredited China Energy Fund
Committee (CEFC) Patrick Ho
and former
Senegal
foreign
minister
Cheikh Gadio,
accused
together of bribing Chad's
President Idriss Deby -- as
well as, for Ho, of bribing
former UN President of the
General Assembly Sam Kutesa,
now as then the foreign
minister of Uganda, since
2005, allegedly for the
benefit of President Yoweri
Museveni. On February 5, Inner
City Press asked the UN
Spokesman why CEFC is still in
"special consultative status"
with ECOSOC, transcript here
(video here)
and below, than ran to the
courthouse. There, US District
Court Judge Katherine Forrest
asked Prosecutor Daniel C.
Richenthal to describe the
weight of the evidence. "How
strong is your case?" she
asked, to some laughter. Very
strong, he said, adding that
Ho has been emailing the
"Shanghai-based Energy
Company" (that would be CEFC
China Energy) from MCC
detention, to launch a public
relations campaign. It may be
backfiring: Judge Forrest in
her ruling denying bail noted
that if Chinese government
press is describing the case
as political, it would make
fleeing and remaining in China
all the easier. Richenthal
said that Ho could travel to
other places - he listed Chad,
Uganda, Iran and Russia. The
continued home detention of UN
bribery convictee was raised
by Richenthal and Judge
Forrest, and not favorably.
Gadio was alluded to as not
yet indicted - he'd said to be
talking about a plea - and
Judge Forrest emphasized
November 5 as the trial date.
She said there was leave to
re-apply for bail but said
such an application should
include what Ho's lawyer Mr
Kim called the "context" of
the payments. Kim said they
including country-wide
charitable and military aid.
From a Chinese energy company?
From the UN's February 5 transcript:
Inner City Press: Patrick Ho,
who is the head of the China
Energy Fund Committee, is
arguing again for bail
today. And the US, in
opposing it, put it in writing
that they've executed a search
warrant at China Energy Fund
Committee, the NGO's
(non-governmental
organization) offices in
Virginia. It seems the
China Energy Fund Committee is
still in special consultative
status with ECOSOC (Economic
and Social Council) even as
its offices are being raided
and… and its head is in
jail. What are the
procedures for… for…?
Spokesman: As far as I'm
aware… you know, the
consultative status of ECOSOC,
as opposed to the DPI
(Department of Public
Information) status, is one
that is managed by the Member
States. There is a
committee of ECOSOC that is
made up of Member
States. They give… they
grant or deny consultative
status to various NGOs.
I think we'll have to look…
you can contact ECOSOC to see
what the exact rules are, but
my assumption would be that,
if Member States grant, only
Member States can take away."
So, Guterres is doing nothing.
On February 6, after another
non-response by ECOSOC's
chair, Inner City Press asked
Guterres' and Dujarric's
Deputy Farhan Haq, video here,
UN transcript here:
Inner City Press:
yesterday, the… Patrick Ho,
the head of the China Energy
Fund Committee here, was
denied bail. And in the…
in the hearing, basically, the
prosecution said and the judge
said that she found weight to
be given to the evidence that
basically the NGO
[non-governmental
organization] was a front for
bribery to Sam Kutesa and
others. So, given that…
how this trial is going, I'm
wondering, again, Stéphane
[Dujarric] had said that the
Secretariat plays no role in
sort of following through and
making sure that China Energy
Fund Committee can't continue
to say it's a… in special
consultative status with
ECOSOC [Economic and Social
Council]. I've written
to the ECOSOC chair now twice,
28 November 2017 and today,
but I don't have anything
back. Is there any
spokesperson for ECOSOC that
can at least say what the
process is? Deputy
Spokesman: There is a
spokesperson for the President
of the Economic and Social
[Council], and I can give you
that contact afterwards. Inner
City Press: Because… because
Brenden… oh. Yeah.
Anyways, I'd written before to
that same individual, and
there was no response.
I'm just… guess I'm wondering,
what is their… what is the…
does the Secretary-General…
given that trial that's now
moving forward and what's
coming out in it, does he
believe in the same way that
he has… asserting himself as
to agencies on other issues,
that he should maybe get
involved to ensure that
there's not a… a named briber
saying that they're in
consultative status with the
UN? Deputy Spokesman:
"Well, UN bodies themselves
have been dealing with the
problems created by the China
Energy Fund Committee in their
own ways, but what you're
talking about is consultative
status that's granted by
Member States through the
Economic and Social Council,
and that decision would have
to be taken by Member States."
Then Inner City Press emailed
the alluded to spokesman, one
Paul Simon. Hours later,
nothing. In advance of the
February 5, the prosecution in
writing asserted that "since
the Complaint
was signed and
Ho was
arrested, the
evidence of
his guilt has
only become
stronger, as
the Government
has
interviewed
witnesses,
executed
search
warrants
(including for
the Virginia
office of the
Energy NGO),
and obtained
documents from
third
parties."
Tellingly,
this Energy
NGO, China
Energy Fund
Committee, is
*still* in
special
consultative
status with
the UN's Economic and
Social Council - and Guterres
met with Uganda's Museveni,
who is in the complaint, at
the same AU summit where
Guterres met
Sudan's Omar al Bashir,
without issuing any read-out.
The prosecution's letter cites
the "President of the UN
General Assembly (the “Ugandan
Foreign Minister”). Ho also
provided the Ugandan Foreign
Minister, as well as the
President of Uganda (who is
the Ugandan Foreign Minister’s
relative), with gifts and
promises of future benefits,
including offering to let both
officials share in the profits
of a potential joint venture
in Uganda involving the Energy
Company and the officials’
family businesses." On January
27, after belatedly dropping
CEFC from the UN Global
Compact, Guterres in Addis
Ababa met Museveni, with
Kutesa himself in Addis as
well. Museveni tweeted a photo
and read out -- "Met UN
Secretary General
@antonioguterres on the
sidelines of the 30th AU
Ordinary Summit in Addis
Ababa. We discussed regional
peace, UN reforms and support
for refugees." Meanwhile,
consistent his declining
transparency, Guterres did not
issue any read out. Did the UN
bribery scandal come up? Or
get further covered up? As
Inner City Press pursues this
story and others, Guterres and
his "Global Communicator"
Alison Smale, seen January 26
in South Carolina praising
a Chinese airline while
mis-allocating funds
meant for Kiswahili radio,
keep Inner City Press more
restricted in the UN than
no-show state media. This is
censorship for corruption.
Inner City Press
has covered
the Ho / Gadio, Kutesa /
Museveni case and repeatedly asked the UN Spokesman why
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres has not even started
an audit based on the
indictment, including of how
CEFC got its UN status and
even remains in the UN Global
Compact espousing
anti-corruption goals. On
January 16, Inner City Press
put the question directly to
Antonio Guterres, video here,
UN transcript here,
and below. Guterres said "I
will look into
it... We don't want the
Compact to have companies that
do not abide by the set of
principles." But a week
passed, and nothing. On
January 24, Inner City Press
asked again. And on January
25, Guterres' spokesman
Stephane Dujarric announced,
Matthew you've asked once or
twice, the Global Compact has
suspended China Energy Fund
Committee (CEFC China Energy).
But, Inner City Press notes, China Energy Fund
Committee is *still* in
special consultative status
with UN ECOSOC. And there has
been no audit of the other
connections. We'll have more
on this. From the UN's January
16 transcript: Q: Matthew Lee,
Inner City Press, on behalf of
the Free
UN Coalition for Access,
hoping for more question and
answer in 2018, as you said.
In November, there there was
an indictment announced in
Federal Court downtown of the
head of an ECOSOC (Economic
and Social Council)-accredited
NGO for bribing, allegedly
bribing, the President of the
General Assembly, Sam Kutesa,
to benefit the China Energy
Fund Committee. And I wanted
to ask you, that remains still
in the Global Compact, and
there hasn't been even an
audit or anything created. Why
haven't you started an audit
in that case? Why is the
beneficiary of what's
described as bribery in the UN
still in the Global Compact?
And how do your reforms
preclude or make impossible
this type of bribery that's
now happened twice under John
Ashe, may he rest in peace,
and under Sam Kutesa? SG
Guterres: "In relation to
other cases, I would like to
say that I'm not aware of
presence in the Compact or
whatever. I will have to look
into it. I will look into it.
What is clear for me is that
we don't want the Compact to
have companies that do not
abide by the set of principles
that were defined in the
constitution of the Compact.
There is a code of conduct
that is there, and that should
be respected. So, I don't know
exactly what happened in the
compact in that regard. I will
look into that." We'll see.
Ho's lawyers said in court
filing he would be asking to
be released on bail in
connection with his
arraignment on January 8, and
his argument included that he
is the head of "UN recognized"
NGO similar, Ho's brief
argued, to the American Bar
Association, the Salvation
Army and the World Jewish
Congress.
But when Ho
pleaded not guilty to the
eight counts against him on
January 8, his lawyers did not
in fact pursue bail, and
declined to comment after.
(Sidewalk stakeout photo here,
h/t) So, Ho remains in jail.
His lawyers' filing, dated
January 5, says Ho is "the
leader of a non-governmental
organization recognized by the
United Nations....After
leaving government service,
Dr. Ho became the Deputy
Chairman and Secretary General
of the China Energy Fund
Committee (“CEFC”), a Hong
Kong based non governmental
organization that has Special
Consultative Status with the
United Nations Economic and
Social Council. Other
organizations with Special
Consultative Status include
the American Bar Association,
the Salvation Army, and the
World Jewish Congress." The
proposal was for Ho to be
released on $10 million bond
secured by $2 million in cash,
into home detention in
Manhattan with electronic
monitoring.
We'll have more
on this - and this: continuing
a trend of under-reporting the
UN elements of the Ho / Gadio
case, as they did the prior Ng
Lap Seng case, Reuters "reports"
that Sam Kutesa, who
previously served as president
of the U.N. General Assembly,
has been Uganda’s foreign
minister since 2015." Well,
no. Kutesa remained foreign
minister of Uganda WHILE he
was President of the UN
General Assembly; cursory
research could have shown he
began as foreign minister in
2005, not 2015.
The initial
complaint has been turned in a
full-fledged indictment,
signed by the foreperson, that
Ho offered bribed to the
presidents of Chad and Uganda,
and the foreign minister of
the latter, Sam Kutesa, who
was President of the General
Assembly, to benefit the
Energy Company. And yet that
benefited Energy Company -
CEFC China Energy - remains in
Antonio Guterres' UN Global
Compact, and Guterres has yet
to order even an audit. On
December 20, before Guterres
went on vacation until at
least January 2, Inner City
Press asked his spokesman
Stephane Dujarric, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
there's now been, by a grand
jury in the Southern District
of New York, a formal
indictment brought back
against Patrick Ho, and I
wanted to read you… they say
in it the… the… the… now a
grand jury has given its
imprimatur on the claim that
the bribes paid… allegedly
paid were to obtain business
for the energy company, the
energy company being CEFC,
China Energy [Fund Committee],
which remains a U… a member of
the UN Global Compact.
I'm just wondering if there's
any update… seems like the…
it's not… maybe the
distinction was between the
NGO and the group, but if the
bribes were paid specifically
for the groups to get energy
contracts… Spokesman:
I'm sure colleagues at Global
Compact are following up.
Inner City Press: And is
the Secretary-General any
closer to… to ordering what
would seem to be a pretty easy
call to have an audit of how…
of… of the UN's involvement in
this and what it can learn
from this? Spokesman: As
I said, when I have something
to announce, I will share it
with you." After January 2?
Today's UN is corrupt. On
December 1, Patrick Ho
appeared in the Arraignment
Part, Courtroom 5A at 500
Pearl Street in Lower
Manhattan and applied for
bail, which Gadio had gotten
on November 27. But this time,
following a Pre-Trial Services
recommendation that bail be
denied and Ho continue in
detention, Ho was denied bail. At the UN, there
are photos of Ho with the
Secretary General, the Under
Secretary General of DESA, and
many others. There's more. On
December 4, Inner City Press
asked UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, Periscope video here
(2d half), UN transcript here: Inner
City Press: So on Friday in
federal court, he was held
over. Bail was denied
based on the seriousness of
the charges. Since then,
you've… there's been some back
and forth on why there's no
audit. But it appears
that he was put onto something
called the UN High Level
Advisory Group on Sustainable
Transport (see here),
was a member of that.
I've seen
an interview he did in the
building with UN Radio about
presenting a report, that
report, I believe, in October
2016 to Ban Ki-moon. So
it seems like he had much
greater UN penetration even
than Ng Lap Seng did, which
triggered an audit. So
I'm wondering, has the UN,
whether audit or not, can it
say how many times, for
example, one issue that came
up in the bail hearing was how
many times he was in the US in
2017. So have you… has
the UN determined the extent
of this now-indicted briber's
contact inside the UN, and was
he, in fact, on an UN High
Level Advisory Group on
Sustainable Transport?
Spokesman: "I will check
on that. If I have more
to share, I will." This is
called a cover up. Where does
the US decided to cut off the
prosecution? Inner City Press
has submitted a Freedom of
Information Act request, on
which the government has at
least for now denied expedited
processing, stating only "Your
request for Expedited
Processing for the FOIA
request EOUSA-2018-000784 has
been denied. Expedited
Disposition Reason: Does not
meet standard." This is
substantially less detailed
that the reasoning, even on
the disposition sheet, for
Ho's denial of bail. We'll
have more on this. During the
December 1 hearing Prosecutor
Daniel
Richenthal
said, Google the press
coverage of this case and from
Hong Kong you'll find articles
saying it's political. Inner
City Press has covered the
case daily since November 20,
and asked the UN Spokesman on
each business day (it did a TV
interview after the court
decision, and Periscope video
here)
- but it is the UN connection
which the UN tries to hide.
Ho's lawyer said he's been to
the US seven times this years.
The prosecution said, five
times. But how many times has
Ho come into the UN? The UN
keeps track of this. But will
they disclose? Ho's defense
lawyer, after a long oral
decision against him, said he
will appeal. Watch this site.
Hhours before Patrick Ho's
bail hearing, Inner City Press
asked UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric about Gadio's bail
being paid, in part, by his
spouse the UN's Resident
Coordinator in Equatorial
Guinea. Dujarric bristled that
he hoped his spouse would pay
his bail, but then when Inner
City Press asked how Gadio got
into the UN building for the
bribe moves described in the
indictment, whether it
involved his wife's position
as a senior UN official,
Dujarric said it would be
looked into. Really? Then why
has Antonio Guterres not even
commissioned an audit, as Ban
Ki-moon did after the
indictment of Ng Lap Seng?
We'll have more on this. Inner
City Press has zeroed in on a
November 21 event, after the
indictment, in which UN DESA
used $1 million from CEFC. On
November 30, after many rounds
of questions from Inner City
Press, UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric answered that DESA
has suspended work with CEFC
pending the outcome of the
U.S. case(s). Periscope here,
video forthcoming. He could
not, however, explain why the
$1 million went out the door
on November 21 nor why there
is yet to be a UN audit. On
November 21, Inner City Press
had already asked about the
indictment, and Antonio
Guterres in a typical half-way
measure canceled his photo op
about the event, but the money
was still used. Deputy SG
Amina Mohammed never changed
her schedule, but the UN now
insists she did not speak. The
UN also on November 29
declined to confirm to Inner
City Press Patrick Ho's role
on the steering board picking
the winner of the UN DESA
Energy Grant. But now even as
of November 30 Ho is still
listed and pictured on the UN
DESA Energy Prize Steering
Board, along with former UN
official Warren Sach and
current UNDP Administrator
Achim Steiner, who refused to
answer Inner City Press'
questions about any post-John
Ashe indictment reforms at
UNDP ostensibly out of respect
for the dead. Reform at the UN
is a dead letter. We'll have
more on this. After Inner City
Press on November 29 asked the
spokesman for the President of
the General Assembly, this:
"The Spokesperson was asked if
the President had attended an
award ceremony entitled
“Powering the Future We
Want/UN DESA Energy Grant” on
21 November.
The Spokesperson replied that
the President had not attended
or participated in any way."
But it was still on his
schedule as of noon on
November 28. What happened?
Who decided that backing away,
but still taking the money,
was OK? If the UN had a
Freedom of Information Act, as
it should, the answer would be
easy. But we will get it
nonetheless. Watch this site.
UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric
on November 27 insisted
to Inner City Press that the
indictment does not involve
enough UN links for
oft-traveling Antonio Guterres
to order any UN audit, as even
Ban Ki-moon did after Ng Lap
Seng was indicted; Guterres'
DESA even went forward with $1
million from CEFC after the
indictment. But beyond other
obvious UN links, "CEFC China
Energy Company Limited" is a
member of the UN Global
Compact, click here to
view, on which Guterres
cannot pass the buck to ECOSOC
or to member states generally.
CEFC China Energy is the 100%
funder of its namesake CEFC of
Patrick Ho; signing
its UN Global Compact letter
was Ye Jianming, who Sam
Kutesa made a Special Honorary
Adviser to the UN President of
the General Assembly, press
release and photo here.
When will Guterres' evasions
end? Watch this site. Dujarric
on November 27 also insisted
to Inner City Press that the
case does not involve any UN
staff member, that no audit
(even of the kind done under
Ban Ki-moon of Ng Lap Seng's
Sun Kian Ip Foundation) is
needed. But beyond CEFC's
money used by Guterres' UN on
November 21, after the
indictment, consider this:
Gadio is being bailed out by
the UN Resident Coordinator in
Equatorial Guinea. What did
this UN staff member know
about what is alleged in the
indictment, and when did she
know it? Gadio, after having
not gotten bailed out on
November 22, appeared on
November 27 before Federal
Judge William Pauley,
represented by Debevoise and
Plimpton, and obtained
conditions for bail. It was
Debevoise and Plimpton's
counsel who in seeking to get
Gadio released made a point of
saying that the other Doctor
Gadio is a senior UN official,
in Equatorial Guinea. Inner
City Press now reports: the
Resident Coordinator in
Equatorial Guinea, and listed
owner of 4210 Sugar Pine Court
in Burtonsville, Maryland,
20866: Coumba Mar Gadio. So
why did Dujarric say so
insistently and rudely, this
involves no UN staff member?
There is more, but we'll start
with this -- watch for the UN
to try to hide behind family
values, as it uses and
pollutes the sustainable
development goals to cover up
the illegal export of natural
resources. This is today's UN.
Pre-hearing Periscope video here. In the
courtroom on November 27 was
Senegal's Consul General, who
shook his head when the
prosecution said that a
"Chinese energy conglomate" --
CEFC -- or paradoxically
Uganda might help Gadio flee.
It emerged that Mrs. Gadio,
also a co-signer on the bond
and on a $700,000 bank account
with Cheikh Gadio, works for
the UN in a high position in
Equatorial Guinea. Still the
UN claims this case has
nothing to do with it, and
that there is nothing for it
to audit. This, from the UN,
is a cover up. Post-hearing
Periscope here.
Earlier on November 27, Inner
City Press asked the spokesman
of both UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres - whose DESA
used $1 million from CEFC
after the indictment - and of
President of the General
Assembly Miroslav Lajcak what
has been done at the UN in the
week after the indictment.
Nothing, it seems. Guterres'
spokesman Stephane Dujarric
told Inner City Press that he
did not read in the indictment
anything for the UN to follow
up on, contrary to the UN
audit conducted under
Dujarric's former boss Ban
Ki-moon after the indictment
of Ng Lap Seng. Lajcak
spokesman Brenden Varma told
Inner City Press to contact
ECOSOC and so it has, with
these questions: "Today the
PGA spokesman Brenden Varma
told me I can only asked
ECOSOC. So here are Inner City
Press' questions, on deadline:
What vetting of CEFC was done
before it gained the status is
has with ECOSOC? What have
been CEFC's activities and
appearances with ECOSOC?
Following the indictment of
Patrick Ho and the material in
the indictment, what steps is
the ECOSOC President or other
listed on ESOSOC's contact
page taking? On deadline."
While Inner City Press was
afterward told to also email
one Paul Simon, this bounced
back, slip-sliding away. The
first went through, and ECOSOC
is on notice, like Guterres
and Deputy Amina J. Mohammed.
Watch this site. Gadio's role,
described in the indictment,
was in bribing Chad's long
time president Idriss Deby to
the tune of $2 million. Now
amid calls in Uganda for
Kutesa to resign, see below,
in Chad they have turned out
2,000 to chant in favor of
Deby, channeled by Radio
France International. Some
ask, $2 million divided by
2,000 is how much, minus the
vig? In the U.S. this is
called Astro-turf, an
artificial surface for a
sports stadium, fake
grassroots. Similar moves are
afoot for Gadio. What is the
French connection? We'll have
more on this. Contrary to the
indictment which says Kutesa
stepped down as Foreign
Minister during his year as UN
PGA, Inner City Press asked
him on September 14, 2015 and
Kutesa said, "I am still
foreign minister." Scoop
here, video here.
While the UN of Secretary
General Antonio Guterres, even
after the indictment and Inner
City Press' public questions
went forward on November 21
with CEFC's money, see below,
in Kampala members of
Parliament are calling for
Kutesa to resign as foreign
minister. "President Museveni
and Kutesa should resign and
give Ugandans a chance to
cleanse their country,” Gerald
Karuhanga, Ntungamo
Municipality MP, said. Joining
the call for resignation(s)
are Lwemiyaga
MP Theodore
Ssekikubo, John
Baptist Nambeshe (Manjiya
County), Nabilah Nagayi
(Kampala Woman
Representative), Patrick
Nsamba (Kassanda North),
Monicah Amoding (Kumi
Municality), Barnabas
Tinkasiimire (Buyaga West) and
James Kaberuka (Kinkizi West).
Meanwhile the UN, implicated,
canceled Guterres' photo op
involving the CEFC money but
went forward and used
it, while the event remained
on the schedule
of Guterres' Deputy SG Amina
J. Mohammed, embroiled in a
scandal involving the signing
of 4,000 certificates for rosewood
illegal logged in Cameroon
and Nigeria and already in
China. Ironically, she will be
delivering the "Nelson
Mandela" address. We'll
have more on this. On
Thanksgiving eve November 22
at 4 pm in an otherwise empty
courthouse at 500 Pearl
Street, bail was sought for
Gadio, so he could spend
Thanksgiving in Maryland.
Federal Defender - assigned
counsel - Sabrina Shroff
lambasted the prosecutors for
delaying. She said that unlike
Ng Lap Seng, the billionaire
Macau-based businessman now
still under house arrest
despite six guilty verdicts in
connection with UN bribery,
her client is not a
billionaire. Notably, he has
said he is financially unable
to retain counsel. Judge
Marrero did not set him free
on bail, setting the matter
over for Monday after
Thanksgiving. On the elevator
down the prosecution was
accused of "white
man-splaining;" reference was
made to Daniel Richenthal, as
prosecutor in the Ng Lap Seng
trial as well, and to the UN
International School. We'll
have more on this - and
another of Gadio's roles that
brought him to the UN Press
Briefing Room in October 2015,
as "Special Envoy of the
Organization of the Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) for the
Central African Republic." The
UN, increasingly, is corrupt.
It is alleged that Chadian
president Deby took bribes for
oil concessions in Chad, and
that 2014-15 UN President of
the General Assembly Sam
Kutesa took bribes for oil
concessions in Uganda.
Kutesa's predecessor John Ashe
died under indictment; the
depths of the UN's corruption
extend into 2017 with the
signing of dubious rosewood
export certificates in Nigeria
by Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' Deputy Amina J.
Mohammed and set-aside
UN employment for the German
Ambassador's wife, via
Guterres' chief of staff. At
noon on November 21 Inner City
Press asked Guterres spokesman
Farhan Haq about the
indictment and CEFC and its $5
million grant program with UN
DESA, transcript here
and below. Guterres had a 5:45
pm photo op with the "Winners
of the Annual Award of the UN
Grant on Sustainable Energy" -
which seems
to have been funded by China
Energy Fund Committee, under
the heading "Powering
the Future We Want."
He "canceled," photos here,
but his Deputy Amina J.
Mohammed was still listed
giving remarks for / at the
event at 1 pm, though at 5:30
pm those remarks were not on
her website unlike later 2:30
pm remarks. On November 22
Inner City Press asked their
spokesman Farhan Haq, who
argued that the indictment is
only of "Doctor Patrick Ho"
personally, so it was fine to
keep and go forward with
CEFC's money. (He said Amina
J. Mohammed did not speak.)
But Ho founded and chairs
CEFC, here is a photograph of
Ho with UN DESA's former
chief. Apparently things are
more and more lax under
Guterres: even Ng Lap Seng's
Sun Kian Ip Foundation's money
was returned. (Kutesa was also
in the Ng Lap Seng case). Is
the UN more hard up? The
corruption is not past but
current. From the UN's
November 21 noon briefing transcript:
Inner City Press: there was an
indictment yesterday by the US
Attorney for the Southern
District of New York that's
very… I would say… call it UN
related. A company
called China Energy Fund
Committee was… as alleged,
funnelled $500,000 bribes to
Sam Kutesa, former President
of the General Assembly.
The indictment describes the
meetings taking place not… on
this very floor, on the second
floor, setting up these
bribes. And so I have a
couple of questions. One
is… and these were… these…
mentioned in the indictment is
the President of Uganda,
Yoweri Museveni, who is… as
you know, is a mediator on the
Burundi file. So, I
wanted to know, number one,
after this indictment, what is
the UN's office of OIOS
[Office of Internal Oversight
Services] doing to look at
the… the… the UN persons that
may… that… implicated in
it? Two, is China Energy
Fund Committee still affil…
accredited by ECOSOC [Economic
and Social Council]? And
they seem to have a project
with DESA [Department of
Economic and Social Affairs],
a $5 million project with
DESA. And, three, what
does this mean for… for the…
Mr. [Michel] Kafando's and the
Secretary-General's view of
the Museveni role in the
Burundi mediation?
Spokesman: Well,
regarding the question of
Burundi mediation, obviously,
he has a role separate and
apart from the work of our
envoy, Michel Kafando.
You just heard a briefing from
Mr. Kafando yesterday about
what his work is on
that. Regarding Mr.
Kutesa, we don't have anything
particular to say about his
dealings as the Foreign
Minister of Uganda.
Obviously, he has served as a
General Assembly President,
and we want to make sure that
all officials of the UN,
including the General Assembly
President, abide strictly by
norms avoiding corruption and
bribery. Obviously, how
that is enforced is an issue
for the specific Member
States, so we would refer you,
in this case, to the Member
State of Uganda, which is
responsible for Mr.
Kutesa. And regarding
the CEFC that you just
mentioned, yes, they have
accreditation at ECOSOC.
We're checking with our
colleagues in the Department
of Economic and Social Affairs
about the nature of their
projects and what the status
of that is. Inner City Press:
There's a $5 million project
that's online, which I guess…
what I'm saying is, coming
after the Ng Lap Seng/John
Ashe case, it seems some sort
of consonant with it.
Basically, you have a big NGO
[non-governmental
organization] using UN access
to purchase a… if the
allegations are true, a PGA
[President of the General
Assembly]. And so, I
guess I'm wondering, from the
UN side, beyond referring to
the Ugandan mission or
whatever else, are there any
reflections, number one, on
how this process… what due
diligence did DESA do before…
before linking up with this
NGO that's clearly a
subsidiary of a Chinese oil
company that was paying bribes
in Chad, as well?
Spokesman: "Well, the
information about them paying
bribes is something that's
come out today. The
ECOSOC accreditation came out
sometime prior to all of
this. So, that's a
separate issue.
Regarding the sort of probity
we expect from officials,
including General Assembly
presidents, of course, we know
that they belong to Member
States, but we want them to
uphold the high
standards. This is
something we made clear during
John Ashe's time. This
is something we're making
clear now. And, of
course, I believe my colleague
Brenden will have more to say
about the presidency of the
General Assembly regarding
this. But, again, these
are issues that the Member
States themselves will need to
take responsibility for.
These are officials of Member
States. These are not
staff of the United Nations. "
The Kutesa scam began in long
meetings in the UN PGA's
office on the UN's second
floor - where the UN now
requires investigative Inner
City Press to have a minder,
unlike other correspondents -
between Kutesa and China-based
NGO China Energy Fund
Committee led by Patrick C.P.
Ho. The scheme involved Kutesa
naming Ho a "Special Adviser
to the PGA," and hosting an
NGO meeting in the UN in April
2015. Kutesa traveled as PGA
to China as part of the
scheme. Ho's approach was
through Kutesa's chief of
staff Arthur Kafeero, whom as
Inner City Press exclusively
reported in August 2015 Kutesa
tried to plant in the UN's
Department of Political
Affairs. See Inner City Press
scoop here;
note that the UN evicted Inner
City Press for its corruption
coverage in early 2016 and has
kept it restricted since, even
as UN corruption continues,
even grows. And what do the
member states do? On November
20 Inner City Press asked UK
Permanent Representative
Matthew Rycroft about the
scandal and he said, "I'll
look into that and get back to
you." Video here.
Update (no comment, cite to
SDGs, here).
From the US Attorney: "HO
caused a $500,000 bribe to be
paid, via wires transmitted
through New York, New York, to
an account designated by the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Uganda, who had recently
completed his term as the
President of the UN General
Assembly (the “Ugandan Foreign
Minister”). HO also
provided the Ugandan Foreign
Minister, as well as the
President of Uganda, with
gifts and promises of future
benefits, including offering
to share the profits of a
potential joint venture in
Uganda involving the Energy
Company and businesses owned
by the families of the Ugandan
Foreign Minister and the
President of Uganda.
These payments and promises
were made in exchange for
assistance from the Ugandan
Foreign Minister in obtaining
business advantages for the
Energy Company, including the
potential acquisition of a
Ugandan bank." We'll have more
on this. Sam
Kutesa had offshore
accounts in the Seychelles, to
receive funds from Enhas, a
company of which despite the
UN denying
it to Inner City Press is
listed as doing business with
the UN's mission in the Congo,
MONUSCO. The accounts, but not
the UN / MONUSCO connection,
have been revealed
the leaked Appleby / Paradise
Papers. Inner City Press on
November 7 asked the spokesman
for the President of the
General Assembly about it,
yielding only an answer that
the current PGA is striving to
make public his disclosure
form but will not speak to
former (or clearly, past)
PGAs. Video here.
But how then can the UN be
said to have cleaned up after
PGA John Ashe, RIP, was
indicted for bribery? We'll
have more on this.
***
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