As
Convicted Ng Remains in $4M Apartment, ICP
Asks
of UN Connections,
Reuters, VOA
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Video
and audio
UNITED NATIONS,
August 7 – After the UN
bribery verdict of six guilty
counts against Ng Lap Seng was
delivered by the jury on July
27, on August 7 Judge Vernon
S. Broderick allowed Ng to
remain under house arrest, at
least pending sentencing.
Broderick has previously seen
Paul Ceglia skip bail. Ng's $4
million 47th Street apartment,
across the street from what
was the office of his South
South News, was called "not
large" despite its 3,100
square feet. On August 7, he
was allowed to remain out of
jail. Reuters
and Voice
of America, both
implicated in the exchange
of Ng's South South News'
money for photos with the UN's
Ban Ki-moon, ran stories about
the decision; VOA
wasn't even at the hearing,
just as it didn't cover the
trial. In the August 7
hearing, which Inner City
Press attended, it emerged
that Ng has had a closed-door
masseuse four to ten hours a
day, who also cooked for Ng's
guards for "Guidepost
Solutions LLC," whose Brendan
P. Finn acknowledged visitors
are not body searched and
conversations in Chinese are
not understood. Inner City
Press rushed north to the UN
and at Secretary General
Antonio Guterres' spokesman's
noon briefing asked for a list
of any UN affiliated person
has visited or had contact
with Ng since his indictment
in October 2015. Video here.
From the UN transcript:
Inner City Press: Big
Periscope day down at the
courthouse. And that's
actually what I want to ask
you about. In the… in
the course of a hearing on Mr.
Ng Lap Seng, convicted for
UN-related briberies,
continued house arrest rather
than jail, it emerged there
have been many more than I
think… certainly the judge,
definitely the prosecution
knew visitors to his apartment
during this time. And I
wanted to know, can you say
whether during the time of the
trial and specifically since
the convictions one week… one…
10 days ago, have there been
UN… UN individuals, to your
knowledge… can you check, I
guess, with OLA [Office of
Legal Affairs] whether they
have, in fact, visited this…
there was… there's apparently
been a masseuse there four… 4
to 10 hours a day…?
Spokesman: Well, I can
tell you that we don't employ
masseuses. Or masseuse,
masseuse or masseuses.
Inner City Press:
Sure. They also call…
Spokesman [cutting in]:
We're not in the business of
monitoring who goes into
people's homes, whether they
work for the UN or not.
So, I… there's no way for me
to answer your question.
Inner
City
Press:
I'm
asking about the… about
contacts between UN people and
Mr. Ng Lap Seng since the…
Spokesman [cutting in]:
I'm not aware of any contacts.
We'll have
more on this. Ng has
hired Paul D. Clement for his
appeal. It's a nice life if
you've got money. More to
follow. Inner City Press began
asking the UN about the people
still at the UN who were shown
to have worked for or taking
money from Ng, or both. So far
the UN has done nothing. For
example, the trial exposed the
role of Carlos Garcia, former
Salvadoran Ambassador and
since then a bridge for NGOs,
in helping "free" Lorenzo's
bribe money from Ng. On August
4, Inner City Press asked UN
Spokesman Stephane Dujarric,
UN transcript
here: Inner City Press:
has to do with the Ng Lap Seng
case, believe it or not.
In the case, among the
evidence that… that came out
leading to the guilty verdict
was evidence of former
Permanent Representative of El
Salvador, Carlos Garcia,
assisting Francis Lorenzo in
getting ill-gotten gains
released from the Dominican
Republic. I've asked you
about him before because,
since serving as a permanent
representative, he seems to be
a kind of bridge to NGOs
[non-governmental
organizations]. He had
an NGO called Global
Governance for the
UNSDGs. I still see him
around 1B squiring people
around. So, my request
to you is, given… and, again I
don't know if OIOS [Office of
Internal Oversight Services]
tracked the case or not.
Given what was shown on the
screen and put into evidence
regarding his assistance in
Mr. Francis Lorenzo getting
bribe money released, does he
have some, he has some kind of
a pass. Is there some
kind of emeritus status for
diplomats, or how it does it
work?
Spokesman: I'm not aware
of any em… emeritus, yeah,
emeritus status except for
journalists, so I will look
into it. Thank you.
We'll see
- and we'll follow up. For
further example, during the
trial an email was shown that
current UN official Meena Sur
emailed back and forth helping
on the brochure for Ng's
fraudulent UN conference
center. But even today,
in the Department of General
Assembly and Conference
Management organogram,
Meena Sur is the chief of the
"Documents Management
Section." Documents for Ng Lap
Seng. There is a history here:
for the Dominican Republic
mission, that is Francis
Lorenzo, Meena Sur was also
involved with a shadowy IGO
"World Sports Alliance,"
heavily involved in mining but
not sports. See for example this:
"The World Sports Alliance
(WSA) team briefed President
Leonel Fernandez on his 19th
September visit to Baruch
College of the City University
of New York during Hispanic
Heritage Month. The World
Sports Alliance is a
multi-stakeholder partnership
launched by XL Generation
Foundation, Give Them a Hand
Foundation, and the Informal
Regional Network of the NGO
Section/DESA that uses sports
to create local economic
development and achieve the
Millennium Development Goals.
Ambassador Francis Lorenzo of
the Mission of the Dominican
Republic to the UN facilitated
the meeting. Ms. Meena Sur,
Programme Officer of the NGO
Section/DESA, Mr. Gordon
Tapper,
President of Give them a Hand
Foundation, as well as Mr.
Alain Lemieux, President of
the WSA, attended the
President’s speech at the
college as Special Guests of
thePermanent Mission of the
Dominican Republic." More on
this soon - who in the UN
Office of Internal Oversight
Services followed up on any of
this? The UN is corrupt - and
incompetent. DGACM's UN
Journal for August 3 calls
that day, a Thursday,
"Tuesday." Photo here.
We will continue on this.
Where is OIOS under Heidi
Mendoza? They never followed
up on the blatant conflict of
interest of DPI chief Gallach,
who appears in OIOS' own
cover-up audit of the Ng Ashe
affair, in evicting Inner City
Press, and leaving it still
restricted. The UN is corrupt.
UN
Deputy
Spokesman
Farhan Haq who
has repeatedly
dodged
questions
about the case
from Inner
City Press was
quoted
by Reuters
that the UN
was "a victim
of these
crimes" and later
that "We are
exploring the
possibility of
requesting
restitution as
a victim to
these crimes,
including
recovering
expenses
incurred to
provide the
requested
cooperation."
On July
31, Inner City
Press asked Haq's also
holdover boss
Stephane
Dujarric to
explain how
this could be,
UN transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: last
week, as you
know, Ng Lap
Seng was found
guilty in one
day on six
charges of
bribery,
foreign
corrupt
practices act,
money-laundering.
And I just
want… I really
want to
understand
this.
I've been
looking at the
idea that the
UN will be…
is… considers
itself a
victim of the
case and will
be requesting
restitution as
a
victim.
And I wanted
to
understand.
It was said by
Farhan [Haq],
and I didn't
have a chance
to ask him
about… is this
just OLA
[Office of
Legal Affairs]
trying to… in
the same way
as Haiti
cholera, cover
itself by
saying we're a
victim, we
bear no
responsibility,
or is it
literally
António
Guterres'
position that
the UN should
be paid for a
process in
which its own
DGACM
[Department of
General
Assembly and
Conference
Management]
gave a
document to
the guy?
There are
still people
here that
worked on the
proposal… I
want to
understand…
Spokesman:
I think the
overall point
is that the UN
was used for
what it
appears for
criminal
activity by
the gentleman
who was found
guilty.
Inner
City Press:
Right, but
what about the
office
South-South
Cooperation?
Is there any
guilt on the
side of the UN
side? Mr.
Yiping Zhu
that left
immediately
upon the
indictment,
is… was he
victimized?
Did he not
understand
what he was
doing?
Spokesman:
Mr. Yiping Zhu
is no longer a
staff member
of this
organization.
Inner
City Press:
Right, but
doesn't an
organization
have some
responsibility
for what its
people do?
Spokesman:
I will leave
it at that.
We
won't. Inner
City Press
asked UN
Spokesman Haq
on July 28
to explain how
the UN is the
victim, and
how it dares
say it should
be get for
corruption.
Video 8
from Minute
8:40. Haq
said, This is
the position
of our Legal
Council. Now
Inner City Press
has asked
above. Watch
this site. The
UN even
refused to
tell the
prosecution
whom it spoke
to for its
Task Force
Report, which
said it has no
ethical
standards. The
UN will ask
for money,
while paying
nothing to the
10,000 people
it killed in
Haiti? Reuters
doesn't even
raise that -
it has a
conflict of
interest.
UN official
Ion Butnaru
put the name
of Ng's
company Sun
Kian Ip Group
into a General
Assembly
resolution
long after it
was voted on,
took a free
trip to Macau
and an iPad
there. Victim?
Ng's company
South South
News bought
full page ads
in the ball
program of the
UN
Correspondents
Association,
then went to
their ball at
Cipriani and
got photos
with then
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon.
(Reuters then
as now had a
seat on UNCA's
board,
something not
disclosed in
its coverage
of Ng and the
UN). A current
UN official
Meena Sur was
shown in the
trial to have
held on Ng's
brochure for
his planned
Macau
conference
Center. The UN
remains
UNreformed.
Inner City
Press, which
has covered
the scandal
from the
beginning and
remains
restricted by
the UN for its
coverage,
rushed down to
the courthouse
and asked Ng
Lap Seng, as
he left by the
side door to
Worth Street,
what he thinks
of the UN and
those there
who took his
money and
favors, a list
well beyond
John Ashe and
Francis
Lorenzo.
Periscope
video here.
He did not
answer,
understandable.
He will be
back in court
on August 7
for arguments
on if his
house arrest
can continue.
Before Ng
left, Inner
City Press
witnessed his
lawyers
leaving. They
told the judge
they will
appeal. But
now that Ng is
guilty, will
the UN act on
those exposed
as corrupt,
and reverse
its
censorship?
Ng Lap
Seng's $3 billion UN
convention center plan had
been assisted by Meena Sur,
still working for the UN
Department of General Assembly
and Conference Management.
Inner City Press asked the UN
spokesman Farhan Haq, who
dodged by saying the UN was
waiting for the verdict. But
the UN is not on trial,
because it has and cited
immunity.
Likewise, high UN
official Navid
Hanif attended Ng Lap
Seng's murky event in Macau in
August 2015, and remains at at
the UN. Spokesman Haq refused
to answer about him, while
telling Inner City Press that
lower UN staff member Frances
Fuller “separated from
service” in September 2016,
just after Inner City Press
asked about her.
Francis Lorenzo,
who took more money from Ng
than the now deceased John
Ashe, was given
a UN.org email address by
DGACM despite never being
pictured among Ashe's Special
Advisers, and never giving up
his day job as the Dominican
Republic's Deputy Permanent
Representative.
Even on July 26,
DGACM's Executive Officer told
Inner City Press that the UN
still hands such UN credential
to anyone whom a President of
the General Assembly tells
them too. So nothing has been
reformed.
The Department of
Public Information under Cristina
Gallach took Ng Lap
Seng's money for its slavery
memorial, and allowed fraudulent
events in the UN lobby.
But UN lead spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, who allowed the
content of Ng's South South
News to be included in UNTV
archives under his watch, said
this was just an issue of
“judgment,” not malfeasance.
The UN
Correspondents Association, to
whom Dujarric “lent”
the UN Press Briefing Room
then evicted and still
restricts Inner City Press for
seeking to cover the event
to see if they discussed
taking South South News' money
and providing a venue for Ng's
photo op with Ban Ki-moon, did
not have a single member
correspondent covering the
month-long UN bribery case.
Other dubious events were
being hosted.
And so, while
awaiting the jury's verdict on
Ng Lap Seng - which may be not
guilty given how corrupt the
UN and the star witness
against him Francis Lorenzo
have been shown to be - it is
clear that the UN has not
reformed and remains
corruption and a censor, seven
months into the reign of “new”
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres. It is the UN that
should be prosecuted, or
invited to leave. Watch this
site.
Legal footnotes:
counsel to Ng Lap Seng, Park
Jensen Bennett, Partners Tai H
Park and Douglas Jensen in New
York; and Alexandra Shapiro in
New York; Assistant US
attorneys Douglas Zolkind,
Janis Echenberg and Daniel
Richenthal of the US
Attorney’s Office, David Last,
on detail with the criminal
division fraud section's FCPA
unit.
***
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