UN
Briber Francis Lorenzo Refused
Questions Now Another Quarter
of Impunity Like Guterres
Corrupt
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Periscope
video, CJR
UNITED NATIONS
GATE, May 21 – Three
years after
Dominican UN
diplomat and
UNCA donor
Francis
Lorenzo pled
guilty to UN
bribery, on 7
March 2019
Inner City
Press which
has been
thrown out of
the UN for
asking SG
Antonio
Guterres about
(his)
corruption
spotted
Lorenzo
directly in
front of the
UN on 46th
Street.
Politely it
asked him,
When will you
be sentenced?
Rather than
answer,
Lorenzo twice
repeated, I'm
just waiting
for someone,
then sped
away, south to
45th Street,
west toward
Second Avenue
and into a
taxi.
Periscope
video here.
Now
the U.S.
Attorney's
Office has
once again
pushed back
Lorenzo's
sentencing,
from June 14
into
September. A
cynic might
say it is
hoped the
public will
forget, as for
example a
pharmacist who
pled guilty to
stealing
$7 million
seems to be
hoping,
pushing his
sentencing
back (though
still less
than Lorenzo).
The U.S.
Attorney on
May 21 asked
to push back
the sentencing
of Heidi Hong
Piao for six
months. We'll
have more on
this - and on
this:
"
ORDER GRANTING
NON-PARTIES
FAIRFAX MEDIA
LTD. AND
AUSTRALIAN
BROADCASTING
CORPORATION'S
MOTION TO
RECEIVE
CERTAIN GRAND
JURY
MATERIALS: as
to John W.
Ashe, Francis
Lorenzo, Ng
Lap Seng, Jeff
C. Yin, Shiwei
Yan, Heidi
Hong Piao.
WHEREAS on
March 1, 2019,
non-party news
organizations
Fairfax Media
Limited and
the Australian
Broadcasting
Corporation
(together, the
"News
Organizations")
filed a letter
motion (Doc.
No. 898)
requesting an
order pursuant
to Federal
Rule of
Criminal
Procedure
6(e)(3)(E)(i)
authorizing
the Government
to provide
them with
certain grand
jury materials
evidencing a
$200,000 wire
transfer
payment
allegedly made
by Dr. Chau
Chak Wing or
his company to
the late
former
President of
the General
Assembly of
the United
Nations John
W. Ashe, as
set forth in
Paragraph 49
(including
subpart (f))
of the
Complaint in
this action
(Doc. No. 1);
WHEREAS, on
March 4, 2019,
the Court
entered an
order
requiring any
objections to
the News
Organizations'
request to be
submitted to
the Court no
later than
March 25, 2019
(Doc. No.
899); WHEREAS,
on March 22,
2019, the
Government
responded to
the News
Organizations'
letter motion
indicating
that it does
not object to
a finding that
the News
Organizations
have met their
burden under
Rule
6(e)(3)(E)(i)
with respect
to the
requested
records (Doc.
No. 900);
WHEREAS no
other
responses or
objections to
disclosure of
the requested
materials were
lodged with
the Court; and
WHEREAS, on
March 29,
2019, the
Court entered
an Order (Doc.
No. 901)
finding that
the News
Organizations
have met their
burden under
Rule
6(e)(3)(E)(i)
with respect
to the
requested
records, and
requiring the
Government and
the News
Organizations
to confer
regarding a
proposed order
governing the
disclosure of
the requested
records, and
to jointly
submit a
proposed order
regarding the
same by April
8, 2019; IT IS
HEREBY ORDERED
that, without
objection by
the
Government,
and after
considering
the facts and
circumstances
of this
matter, the
Government
shall, by no
later than
April 22,
2019, provide
to the News
Organizations
the following
documents to
the extent
obtained by
the United
States
Attorney's
Office for the
Southern
District of
New York via
grand jury
subpoena in
the
investigation
of this
matter: 1.
Copies of bank
statements and
wire transfer
records from
financial
institutions
evidencing the
$200,000 wire
payment
allegedly made
by Dr. Chau
Chak Wing or
his company to
John W. Ashe
as set forth
in Paragraph
49 of the
Complaint,
which
statements and
records may be
redacted to
the extent
they contain
information
not pertinent
to this
payment; and
2. Copies of
written
statement(s)
the Government
received from
any financial
institution
that produced
such records
attesting to
the
authenticity
of those
records as
documents kept
or maintained
by the
financial
institution in
the ordinary
course of its
business,
which
statements may
be redacted to
the extent
they contain
information
not pertinent
to this
payment. SO
ORDERED:
(Signed by
Judge Vernon
S. Broderick
on 4/9/2019)."
As to Lorenzo
and his
running away
in March, the
irony is, he
has argued to
SDNY Judge
Broderick that
his leg is in
so much pain
he had to have
his ankle GPS
bracelet, like
the one
imposed for
principled
protest rather
than
corruption on
Patricia
Okoumou,
removed. But
on March 7
Lorenza was
speeding
along, unlike
the wheels of
justice for
him. Inner
City Press has
multiply been
informed that
this felon is
still working
with the
Dominican
Mission and
entering the
UN. On March
8, Inner City
Press in
writing asked
UNSG Antonio
Guterres, his
Deputy SG
Amina J.
Mohammed who
has been
spotted with
Lorenzo,
Alison Smale
and Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric: "March
8-2: On UN
corruption and
bribery,
yesterday
evening Inner
City Press saw
in front of
the UN and
questioned
Francis
Lorenzo, who
pleaded guilty
to UN bribery.
Please
immediately
state the last
time convicted
UN bribery
felon Francis
Lorenzo
entered the UN
(same for
former El
Salvador
Ambassador
Carlos Garcia,
who it was
shown
facilitied
Lorenzo's
illegal acts,
and for
Patrick Ho),
and state
whether
Lorenzo is
affiliated in
any way to the
Dominican
Republic
mission to the
UN." More
than a day
later, no
answer at all,
despite
promises of
answers by
Smale and
Dujarric. To
this low has
the UN fallen
under
Guterres.
Macau
billionaire Ng
Lap Seng,
convicted a
year ago of
bribing the
UN, spent even
more money on
lawyers back
on July 16,
and on
multiple
doctors in the
week before,
to
successfully
win another
day of freedom
from US Judge
Vernon S.
Broderick.
Post-hearing
first video
report here,
from Inner
City Press
then and still
now banned
from the UN as
it alone in
the UN press
corps pursues
the Ng Lap
Seng and now
Patrick Ho /
CEFC UN
bribery cases.
On Ng Lap
Seng, who did
belatedly turn
himself in to
begin serving
his sentence,
there is a
development:
he has
unsurprisingly
asked the
Second Circuit
Court of
Appeals, which
recently
turned down
Patrick Ho's
bid to get out
on bail, to
void his
conviction.
The argument,
which today's
UN of
Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres has
shown it is in
support of, is
that U.S. law,
the FCPF, was
"misapplied"
to cover an
intergovernmental
organization
like the UN.
Guterres
clearly
believes that
such US laws
as those
against police
brutality, or
protecting
freedom of the
press, don't
apply in the
UN: witness
his Security
roughing up
Inner City
Press on June
22 and
more violently
on July
3 (video here), and his and ex-NYT Alison
Smale's
ban on
Inner City
Press for 44
days since,
for a review
in which Inner
City Press has
no right to be
heard. Will
"the UN is
lawless"
argument work
for Ng Lap
Seng?
Guterres, who
has yet to
even order a
UN audit of
who else
Patrick Ho
bribed in the
UN beyond the
President of
the General
Assembly Sam
Kutesa,
certainly
hopes so.
Watch this
site. Back on
July 16 in a
four hour
proceeding
witnessed to
the end by
Inner City
Press and only
one other
media, Ng's
lawyer Mr Tai
H. Park and
his Doctor
Stephen Pan
who is the son
in law of one
of his other
lawyers Hugh
Mo managed to
parade a
series of MRIs
and other
tests taken
over the past
weekend as
evidence that
Ng is anxious
and needs more
time. On July
9 Ng had an
elective stent
procedure, and
was released
after eight
hours. Then he
went to NYU
Langone, and
was diagnosed
with an inner
ear issue. But
an MRI taken
found some
"silent"
landings on
his brain, and
another
discovered a
spine
condition
that, it later
emerged, had
been found in
2012. There
was a Doctor
"Adubato" who,
it was said,
initially
signed a
letter that Ng
would need two
weeks then
recanted it,
seemingly
without
repercussions.
No one else
from the UN
was there, to
see this
travesty of
one of their
bribers. What
Ng actually
did barely
came up during
the
presentations
by Janis M
.Echenberg and
Daniel C.
Richenthal:
their
prosecution,
as it turned
out, spend at
least $10,000
in taxpayer
money for a
Colombia
cardiologist
Doctor
Schneller to
come out with
such clunkers
as the only
advice he
gives his
stent patients
is to not go
to "Third
World
countries."
After four
hours of
hypochondria
of a type
never
entertained
from less
affluent
defendants,
Broderick
delivered yet
another day of
freedom to Ng.
He was
supposed to be
in jail, at
latest, on
July 10. Then
July 17. Now
it's Wednesday
July 17 at
noon, in
Allenwood,
Pennsylvania.
Who knows?
Watch this
site. Eight
months after
Ng's
conviction, on March
30 the prosecution
asked for a
jail term of
over six years
and a $2
million fine.
On May
11 Ng was
sentenced to
four years in
jail, and ironically
to pay the legal
fees of the
UN, which even
under the
prosecutors'
press release
he corrupted. At
the UN, Carlos
Garcia
who
facilitated
Ng's bribes
to Francis
Lorenzo's family
in the
Dominican
Republic was
at the General
Assembly stakeout at
this month as
exclusively
reported by
Inner City
Press. Since then
the UN ousted
Inner City Press on June
22 from
covering a
speech by
Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres, and
on July 3
from covering a meeting on
its $6.7
billion
budgets, since
when Guterres
has banned
Inner City
Press.
Fox News story
here,
GAP blogs I
and II.
Now on July
16, Ng is
still no in jail: he is
arguing
that pains in
his back and elsewhere
mean he should
get
another delay.
The New York
Times, which
unlike Fox
News, the
(UK) Independent
and others has
not yet reported
a word on the
UN's physical
ouster and
banning of the
investigative Press
despite earlier
coverage,
amazingly ran
a long
piece
about Ng's
case without
once
mentioning
that is it UN
bribery he
is convicted
of. We'll
have more on
this. After
an oral
argument on
June 26 in the
Second Circuit
Court of Appeals,
Ng's bid to
remain even
longer in his
apartment
on 47th Street
was
denied. “It is
hereby ordered
that
appellant’s
motion is
DENIED,
because he has
failed to show
that the
district court
clearly erred
in its risk of
flight
determination,”
the court’s
order sys,
and “It
is further
ordered that
the appeal is
expedited.” Ng's
lawyer Paul
Clement of
Kirkland &
Ellis claims
that the UN
is not the
kind of
"organization"
Congress was
talking about
in the law
prohibiting
bribery
connected to
organizations
that receive
federal funds.
So the UN can
be bribed at
will? The UN
has no law
against it,
and current SG
Guterres does
not even order
an audit of China
Energy Fund
Committee, the
second UN
bribery case
which seems linked to
the first - CEFC
invited John
Ashe to China
as well. We'll
have more on
this.
And
this: in
the underlying
Ng Lap Seng
indictment
there was a
Co-Conspirator
3 who also
bribed UN
President of
the General
Assembly John
Ashe. This
CC-3 has now been
identified as
Chau Chak Wing
by Australian
MP Andrew
Hastie,
chairman of
the
Parliamentary
Joint
Committee on
Intelligence
and Security.
Hastie
recently met
with US
authorities
about
espionage and
foreign
interference
legislation,
and said it
was during
those
discussions he
confirmed the
"long-suspected
identity of
CC-3" as Dr
Chau."The same
man who
co-conspired
to bribe the
United Nations
president of
the General
Assembly, John
Ashe," Hastie
said in a
speech in the
Australian
Parliament’s
Federation
Chamber. On May 22,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, video here,
UN transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: I
wanted to ask
you, in… in
what was
called the
John Ashe
case, a
businessman,
Mr. Chau Chak
Wing has been
identified as
Co-conspirator
3 in… that was
in the
indictment.
And it's
caused quite a
furore in
Australia, but
I guess my
question is,
given that the
UN did, in
that case,
unlike the
Patrick Ho
case, conduct
an audit, did
the UN know
the identity
of
Co-conspirator
3? And
what does it
show you now,
given… given
Mr. Chau Chak
Wang's other…
Wing's other…
other
roles?
What does it
mean for the
UN that he,
according to
intelligence
sources and
now, as stated
in the
Australian
Parliament,
paid a
$200,000 bribe
to a
then-sitting
President of
the General
Assembly?
Spokesman:
I think we've
commented on
the case, and
we have
cooperated
fully with the
Federal host
authorities
here on the
conclusion of
the case.
Inner
City Press:
But it
doesn't… so
this doesn't
change the ca…
the idea that
this is a
sitting… this
is a person
that's
actually tied
directly to
the Chinese
Communist
Party?
Spokesman:
I've said…
this is what
I've had to
say.
Inner
City Press:
It doesn't
change…
Spokesman:
"This is what
I've had to
say.
Thank you."
On
May 11 Ng was
sentenced to
four years in
jail, and ironically
to pay the legal
fees of the
UN, which even
under the
prosecutors'
press release
he corrupted?
The UN,
which evicted
and still
restricts
Inner City
Press for
pursuing the
extend of Ng's
bribery in the
UN, including
his
payments through
South South
News to the UN
Correspondents
Association, gave
its UN
Censorship
Alliance
scribes a
statement that
In a statement
after the
verdict, the
UN said it
“had
cooperated
extensively to
facilitate the
proper
administration
of justice in
this case, by
disclosing
thousands of
documents and
waiving the
immunity of
officials to
allow them to
testify at
trial." This
statement, and
the UNCA
scribes,
ignore that
the UN is
already embroiled
in another
bribery
scandal, that
of Patrick Ho
and CEFC. Nothing
has been
reformed; Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterress
hasn't even
ordered an
audit. On
May 14, Inner
City Press
asked
Guterres' deputy
spokesman
Farhan Haq,
video here,
UN transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: On
Friday, Ng Lap
Seng of
South-South
News and other
fame was
sentenced to
48 months in
prison for
what’s
described as
bribery of
officials at
the UN.
I did see that
somehow part
of the
settlement was
that the UN’s
legal fees
would be
paid.
So, I had two
questions.
Number one,
how much are
those legal
fees?
Number two, in
the second
what’s
described as a
UN bribery
case involving
Patrick Ho and
the China
Energy Fund
Committee
(CEFC), has
the UN as of
yet rung up
any… any legal
fees?
And has there
as yet been
any audit
ordered as was
audit… ordered
in the case of
Ng Lap Seng
and
South-South
News? And, if
not, why not?
Spokesman:
Regarding the
second
question,
that’s an
ongoing case,
and we’ll have
more details
as it
proceeds.
Regarding the
first, the
United Nations
had cooperated
extensively to
facilitate the
proper
administration
of justice in
the Ng Lap
Seng case by
disclosing
thousands of
documents and
waiving the
immunity of
officials to
allow them to
testify at
trial.
In this
regard, the
organisation
notes the
court’s award
of $302,000 in
restitution to
be paid to the
United Nations
as a victim of
these
crimes.
Nizar?
Inner
City Press:
I have a
follow-up
question… One
of the people
that testified
was… was the
person that
worked in
DGACM
[Department of
General
Assembly and
Conference
Management]
and actually
changed the GA
resolution to
put in the
name of Sun
Kiang Ip
foundation as
the builder of
the… the… the
centre in
Macau.
Was anything
ever done on
that? I
think, if you
follow the
case, you know
that that took
place.
Yes, bribes
were paid
allegedly and
now
convictedly
[sic] to… to
John Ashe and
Francis
Lorenzo, but
a… a UNGA
[United
Nations
General
Assembly]
document, once
it was passed,
was amended by
DGACM.
Who did
that?
And… and… and
are they being
held
accountable?
Spokesman:
The person who
testified in
this case has
retired from
the United
Nations." As
Inner City
Press has
previously
exclusively
reported, that
is Ion
Botnaru. So,
no
accountability?
And the UN is
taking
$302,000 in
"restitution"
while it has paid
nothing in
restitution
for killing 10,000
people with
cholera in
Haiti? We'll
have more on
this. The
prosecutors
said Ng "was
sentenced
today to 48
months in
prison for his
role in a
scheme to
bribe United
Nations
ambassadors to
obtain support
to build a
conference
center in
Macau that
would host,
among other
events, the
annual United
Nations Global
South-South
Development
Expo. NG
was sentenced
by U.S.
District Judge
Vernon S.
Broderick. NG
was convicted
on July 27,
2017, after a
five-week
trial, of two
counts of
violating the
Foreign
Corrupt
Practices Act,
one count of
paying bribes
and
gratuities,
one count of
money
laundering,
and two counts
of conspiracy. Manhattan
U.S. Attorney
Geoffrey S.
Berman
said:
“Billionaire
Ng Lap Seng
corrupted the
highest levels
of the United
Nations in
pursuit of a
multibillion-dollar
real estate
deal in
Macau.
Ng exploited a
center for
international
diplomacy as
an instrument
for his greedy
intentions.
This Office is
committed to
policing
official
corruption
wherever it
may be found.” Acting
Assistant
Attorney
General John
P. Cronan
said:
“Corruption at
any level of
government
undermines the
rule of law
and cannot be
tolerated.
But corruption
is especially
corrosive when
it occurs at
an
international
body like the
United
Nations.
By paying
bribes to two
U.N.
ambassadors to
advance his
interest in
obtaining
formal support
for the Macau
conference
center
project, Ng
Lap Seng tried
to manipulate
the functions
of the United
Nations.
The sentence
handed down
today
demonstrates
that those who
engage in
corruption
will pay a
heavy price
and serves as
a reminder
that no one
stands above
the
law.” Lorenzo
- still at
liberty and in
front of the
UN on 7 March
2019...
***
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