In
1st UN Bribery
Case, US Wants
6 Years and
$2M From Ng
Lap Seng, UN
Corruption
Continues
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
March 30 – Eight months after
the UN bribery
conviction of
Macau-based
businessman Ng
Lap Seng, on March
30 the prosecution
asked for a
jail term of
over six years
and a $2
million fine.
The filing
states that
"The
defendant, a
sophisticated,
international
businessman,
repeatedly
used his
wealth and
power to seek
to corrupt
decision-making
at the United
Nations. That
was a choice.
It warrants
substantial
and meaningful
punishment. The
defendant
could have
sought to
persuade the
UN and the UN
Development Programme
(“UNDP”) to
support his
latest
project—a
massive real
estate
development on
a
manmade island
off the coast
of Macau,
China,
including a
conference
center, luxury
hotel,
residential
apartments,
and a high-end
shopping mall
with brands
such as Gucci,
to be built by
the
defendant’s
company—on its
purported
merits. But
the merits of
such a project
are, at the very
least, highly
debatable.
Building
luxury hotels,
apartments,
and retail
outlets may be
profitable,
but UNDP’s
mission is the
eradication of
poverty and
the reduction
of inequality
through
sustainable,
environmentally
responsible
development.
However,
whether the UN
or UNDP
would have
approved of
and supported
the
defendant’s
project, or a
portion
thereof, on the
merits is a
question to
which one
cannot know
the answer.
Because
instead of
seeking approval
and support on
the merits,
the defendant
cheated.
Hiding behind
and misusing a
nongovernmental organization
that he
founded and
funded
allegedly to
help
developing
nations
rather than
himself, the
defendant
orchestrated
and led a
scheme to pay
bribes to two
senior UN
ambassadors,
one of whom
was the
elected leader
of the UN
General
Assembly."
***
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