UNCA
Prez
Offers
Hamptons
Rental for
$90,000 a
Month, UN
Links?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 5 -- The
scandal caused
by the screening
inside the UN
of the Sri
Lanka
government
propaganda
film "Lies
Agreed To"
under the
banner of the
UN
Correspondents
Association,
after
UNCA President
Giampaolo
Pioli had
accepted rent
money from
Palitha Kohona,
who later as
Sri Lankan
Ambassador
asked Pioli
for the
screening,
centers like
so many New
York stories
on one thing.
Real estate.
Pioli's
spin, now
through his
lawyer's
letter
threatening to
sue Inner
City Press for
money, is that
Kohona "rented
an apartment
from a real
estate company
owned by Mr.
Pioli's
family."
While
Pioli
has refused to
provide the
information to
Inner City
Press, beyond
bragging that
he rents out
"twelve
apartments,"
he has
elsewhere
called it a
"small family
real estate
company" that
rents through
"an agent."
He
has
claimed to
Inner City
Press that the
properties are
rented out
"through a
broker,"
allegedly
relieving him
of any duty to
ensure that he
is not
receiving
money from
people who
request
legitimizing
access to the
UN through him
and UNCA, or
whom he
ostensibly
covered
objectively
for his other
job or hobby,
with
Poligrafici
Editoriale
Group.
But
even
the most
preliminary
research finds
that the
properties are
not through
brokers but directly
advertised to
(the most
affluent of)
the public,
for example a Hampton Bays
home publicly
described and
hyped as
"ultra
luxurious
home was
totally
renovated in
2010 using the
finest Italian
materials and
Italian
artisans.
Equally at
home on the
Amalfi Coast,
you'll think
you're in
Italy, but
you'll be on
prestigious
Red Creek Road
in the heart
of the
Hamptons" with
a rental price
of "$80,000 -
$90,000/month."
This
is
some
"small family
real estate
company." The
house, as
advertised
publicly in Norway, Sweden,
the
Netherlands,
Denmark,
the UK
and Italy--
only 72,000
Euros --
is at 90 Red
Creek Road.
Tax records
for 2012 list
Pioli as
owner; the
real estate
ads were sent
out to the
global jet set
on May 4,
2012.
Meanwhile the
flawed "Board
of
Examination"
appointed by
Pioli and his
Big Media
supporters (or
puppet
masters, even
weekend
guests)
finalized a
report without
accepting
evidence from
Inner City
Press and
without
looking into
this.
Earlier
on July 5
Pioli's
Secretary
Barbara Plett
of the BBC,
which
previously
used Inner
City
Press' January
2012 cocaine
in the UN
mailroom
exclusive
without
giving any
credit to
Inner City
Press -- while
crediting
derivative
quotes
garnered by
AFP and AP
-- issued
an email to
all UNCA
members,
despite the
Board having
ignored
requests for
information it
says is
"available on
request," that
"the
Executive
Committee will
make a
decision on a
date to submit
the
report and
recommendations
to the UNCA
General
Meeting."
Inner
City Press
remains on
this Executive
Committee, to
which it was
elected before
seeing what
this UNCA is
really about.
This
"decision"
must be made
at an
Executive
Committee
meeting, and
in full
knowledge
of how this
UNCA process
does not
comply with
New York State
and
other
applicable
law.
Since
Pioli,
while seeking
to expel Inner
City Press for
"unethical"
behavior which
seems to
consist of
reporting on
conflicts of
interest at
the UN, has
shown a willingness
not only to
make campaign
contributions
to politicians
he writes
about, but
also to not
recuse himself
but rather
grant favors
and access to
the UN to
people he has
collected rent
from, it is
more than
reasonable to
inquire:
To
whom
has Pioli
rented his
"twelve
apartments"?
Who has paid
the $80,000 a
month for this
Hamptons
"ultra
luxurious
home... using
the finest
Italian
materials and
Italian
artisans"?
And
are
there any
connections to
the UN? Or,
separately as
a matter of
ethics, to the
entities Pioli
covers for his
other job or
hobby, with
Poligrafici
Editoriale
Group
and its
Quotidiano
Nazionale, La
Nazione, Il
Resto de
Carlino, Il
Giorno and
Quotidiano.net?
Pioli's
workmanship is
truly
something to
behold. This
series will
continue:
watch this
site.
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