After
Ng Went
South-South In
BVI, Gallach
Evicted Press
Without
Recusal
By Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
series
UNITED
NATIONS, April
17 -- As the
UN bribery
scandal
gathered force
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon called
for an audit
by the UN
Office of
Internal
Oversight
Services. The
audit,
completed
early this
year but first
put online
by Inner City
Press,
directly
criticizes
Cristina
Gallach, the
Under
Secretary
General for
Communications
and Public
Information,
including for
her lack of
due diligence
and for
dealings with
South South
News.
Gallach,
without
recusing
herself,
unilaterally
deactivated
Inner City
Press UN
residential
correspondents
pass on
February 19,
and had Inner
City Press'
reporter
physically
thrown out on
First Avenue
without coat
or passport. Audio
here.
This is
called
retaliation.
Then, after
misrepresenting
the
restrictions
she has put on
the Press, she
ordered
the final
eviction
of all of
Inner City
Press'
investigative
files on
Saturday,
April 16 - video here.
Now,
the South
South News
scandal
connects with
the so-called
Panama Paper,
about which
Inner City
Press twice
asked the UN
last week. Ng
Lap Seng, who
controlled the
groups which
were not
reviewed by
Gallach and
got face time
with Ban
Ki-moon. Per McClatchy:
"Ng is listed
as a
shareholder of
two British
Virgin Islands
companies –
South South
News
International
Group Ltd in
May 2010 and
GOLUCK Ltd. in
2004.
He leads a
real estate
development
company in
Macau, China,
and is one of
the world’s
wealthiest
people. He was
accused in
1996 of
sending more
than $1.1
million to a
Little Rock
restaurant
owner who then
contributed
hundreds of
thousands of
dollars to the
Democratic
National
Committee,
according to a
1998 Senate
committee
investigation.
The restaurant
owner, Charlie
Trie, pleaded
guilty to
violating
campaign
finance laws.
Ng was not
charged.
Another
congressional
report
criticized Ng
and others for
failing to
cooperate
during the
investigation.
Published
reports say Ng
visited the
White House 10
times from
1994 to 1996,
had his
photograph
taken with
Bill and
Hillary
Clinton, sat
beside Bill
Clinton at an
event at a
Washington
hotel, and
rode in an
elevator with
Hillary
Clinton.
Last year, Ng
was charged
with bribing a
United Nations
official and
lying about
what he was
doing with
$4.5 million
in cash he
brought into
the U.S. over
two years.
Investigators
say instead of
spending it at
casinos or on
art, antiques
or real
estate, he
used the money
for bribes as
he sought
investments in
Antigua and
China. Another
man listed in
the same
criminal
complaint is
president of
the New
York-based
South South
News, the same
name of the
British Virgin
Islands
company.
Ng’s lawyer,
Kevin Tung,
has said that
his charges
are based on a
misunderstanding.
Tung, Benjamin
Brafman and
Hugh Mo, two
others who are
or have
represented
Ng, did not
respond to
requests for
comment."
Any due
diligence by
Gallach, prior
to allowing
the Vistors
Lobby event
and slavery
memorial
foundation,
would have
revealed these
disqualifiers.
Furthermore,
this shows the
weakness of
OIOS' audit.
OIOS refers to
South South
News as an
"NGO." The UN
has a
relationship
with this BVI
for-profit
corporation,
then absolves
itself about
dealings with
Ng Lap Seng,
while Ban's
and Gallach's
response is to
throw the
Press in the
street.
On
April 15,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Deputy
Spokesperson
Farhan Haq how
much Gallach
allowed the
corruption
Global
Sustainability
Foundation to
put into the
slavery event
Ban Ki-moon
attended, and
about the
Government
Accountability
Projects
letter to Ban
Ki-moon
charging him
with
retaliation. Video here. Follow @innercitypressFollow @FUNCA_info
, 
