In
Scandal, ICP
Asks of
Stealth Deal
of UN, Ng
&
Dominica's
Skerrit,
Manana
By Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
series
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 9 --
The UN scandal
unfolding from
the
indictments of
former Antigua
and Barbuda
Ambassador
John Ashe and
Ng Lap Seng
has led to a
request by the
opposition in
Dominica to
the country's
Prime
Minister,
Roosevelt
Skerrit, to
step aside.
There is a
counter-request
and even legal
threat, Inner
City Press is
told by
multiple
sources. Inner
City Press has
put the
request letter
online here.
The letter
among other
things
demands:
"Immediate
disclosure of
the agreement
you signed in
Macau on
August 26th,
2015 with
Teresa Liu of
the UN
South-South
Cooperation
Office and NG
Lap Seng of
the Sun Kian
IP Group
Foundation."
Inner
City Press has
requested a
copy of this
agreement from
the UNOSSC,
and from UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric,
previously the
spokesman for
UNDP. Video
here.
Inner City
Press: Here's
a question
that you
haven't
answered, and
it has to do
again with
this UNDP
document.
I'm sorry to
ask it.
The document
that was
signed in
public on
camera in
Macau by a
UNDP
representative,
Teresa Liu, by
Mr. Ng Lap
Seng and the
Prime Minister
of
Dominica.
The reason I'm
asking is now
the opposition
in Dominica
has formally
requested from
the Prime
Minister that
he disclose
the
document.
And it seems
like, in the
U.N., it talks
about
transparency.
Where is the
document?
Spokesman
Dujarric:
It is a
document
signed by… not
by UNDP but by
a
representative
of the
South-South
Cooperation
office.
I hope to have
a bit more to
share with you
on that in the
coming
days.
But, at this
point, I would
ask… refer
your questions
to [the]
South-South
office.
Inner City
Press:
But I have an
email pending
there for a
long
time.
And what I
want to ask
you is, since
you said on
Friday that
they're not
part of UNDP,
I have done, I
checked into
it and they
were reporting
things up the
chain. I
understand
there's an
audit to begin
today, so it
is under
UNDP.
Apparently, it
was allowed
for long time
to not report…
Spokesman:
What I said to
you is it is
housed in
UNDP, and UNDP
is giving it
administrative
support, but
it is not
technically a
UNDP office
per se.
Question:
Is the
Shanghai
office of
OSCE… OSSC
(Office for
South-South
Cooperation)
going to be
audited?
Because that's
what’s on the
letterhead.
Spokesman:
I would ask
that… I would
ask that
question to
the office…
Question:
It was Ban
Ki-moon said
he's going to
get these
reports from
the funds…
Spokesman:
I already said
so I'm sure
they're doing
all the
relevant work
they need…
[cross talk] I
hope to have
something for
you on that
tomorrow.
We'll
see. Beyond
Teresa Liu of
UNDP who
signed with
Dominica's PM
Skerrit, Inner
City Press is
informed that
Yiping Zhou,
who left as
OSSC direct
just as the Ng
Lap Seng - UN
scandal broke,
also knows
about it.
Encouragement
but also
criticism --
which is fine
- and threats
have been
received from
Dominica.
While the UN,
UNtransparent,
has delayed 11
days and
counting to
release this
document they
signed, why
doesn't the
Dominican
government in
Roseau, or its
Permanent or
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
at the UN in
New York,
simply release
it? We'll have
more on this.
At his bail
hearing on
charges of
paying bribes
at the UN,
through
President of
the General
Assembly John
Ashe,
Dominican
Republic
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
Frank Lorenzo
and others,
Macau
businessman Ng
Lap Seng was
said to have
five (5)
passports.
That is a lot
of passports
for a single
individual,
but four of
them made near
immediate
sense: China,
Portugal
(Macao was a
former
Portuguese
colony),
Lorenzo's
Dominican
Republic and
Ashe's Antigua
and Barbuda.
But what about
the fifth one,
Dominica?
This is
part of a
wider story.
Dominica's
Prime Minister
Roosevelt
Skerrit was
photographed
at Ng's and
UNDP's “South
South”
conference in
Macau in late
August 2015,
ostensibly
signing an
agreement
including Ng
and UNDP's
Teresa Liu for
“Technology
Transfer"
center in
Dominica.
Earlier,
Skerrit
reportedly
negotiated
with Ng about
investing in a
hotel and even
casino project
and had other
financial
dealings.
As Inner
City Press reported
earlier this
week,
Dominica under
Skerrit has a
history of
giving out
diplomatic
passports and
positions to
non-nationals;
including the
one still
listed in the
UN's Blue Book
at Dominica's
(lone) Deputy
Permanent
Representative
to the UN.
Inner
City Press
asked UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric what
scrutiny the
UN gives
before
accrediting
non-nationals
as a country's
Permanent or
Deputy
Permanent
Representative.
Dujarric
replied that
it entirely up
to member
states,
similar to his
responses on
Ban's
Secretariat's
responsibility
for changing
documents for
Ng, and
accepting
funds and
invitations
and giving photo
ops, including
through the UN
Correspondents
Association,
to Ng and
Sheri Yan,
also indicted.
But there are
more, not
without
controversy -
and while the
UN gives a
blind eye,
some others
don't. Under
Skerrit,
Dominica tried
to name as its
ambassador to
the UN Food
and
Agriculture
Organization
one Francesco
“Corallo, a
gaming magnate
on Interpol’s
most wanted
list on
suspicion of
“organized
crime,
transnational
crime and
fraud.”
(It seems the
publications
of UNCA's
president,
who gave
Ng the photo
op with Ban
Ki-moon,
have not
reported on
this
assignment to
a UN agency. UNCA's
Vice President
was present at
Ng's Macau
conference
where Skerrit
signed with
UNDP's Liu.)
Then
there was the
neo-Nazi.
In 2004
Dominica's
Ministry of
Foreign
Affairs, Trade
and Marketing
wrote to
Ireland,
requesting
“agrément” for
the
appointment of
one Serge
Roger De
Thibault De
Boesinghe as
Dominica's
Ambassador to
Ireland.
UNcovered: “It
turns out that
in the 70s, De
Boesinghe
became a
member of an
international
neo-Nazi
organization,
the new
European
order, and was
active in the
Belgian branch
of the
movement. De
Boesinghe was
also a close
friend and
confidant of
Leone Degrelle
the former
head of the
Walloon
Division of
Hitler’s
dreaded Waffen
SS, which were
front-line
troops in the
fight against
the Soviet
Union.”
According to
the same
account in or
around 2006,
“the United
Arab Emirates
also refused a
request to
have Dominica
open a
consulate in
that country.”
Inner City
Press has
obtained, and
is today
publishing
here a
fax to Qatar's
Mohammed
Abdullah Mutib
Al Rumaihi at
Qatar's
Mission to the
UN in New
York, with the
support of
Roosevelt
Skerrit, from
a Dominica
official name
Timothy
Cornwall.
We can
now report
that Dominica
(and UK)
sources
indicate
Cornwall was
arrested, and
already
embroiled at
the time of
this fax to
the Qatar
mission.
For
now, the
question
arises: where
is the UN's
host country,
the US, on all
of this? In
the past, it
is reported
that “the US
ignored the
diplomatic
status of
ambassador
Rudolph King
after he was
arrested on
fraud charges.
Two years
earlier, in
2007, the US
denied a visa
to Barbadian
Leroy Paris,
after
questioning
why a
non-national
was named
Dominica’s
goodwill
ambassador.”
Now what will
the US State
Department and
Mission, so
far quiet on
l'affaires
Ashe, Lorenzo
and Skerrit,
do as the
scandal
UNfolds? Watch
this site.
Background:
While the UN
has been
extensively
corrupted by
Ng Lap Seng
and his Sun
Kian Ip
Foundation and
South South
News and South
South Awards,
his proposed
Macau
convention
center and the
South South
event held in
Macau in late
August 2015
provide a
snapshot which
the UN still
has yet to
explain.
On
October 26 we
began to focus
on an actual
snapshot from
the Macau
event,
included John
Ashe, Frank
Lorenzo and
the Prime
Minister of
Dominica,
Roosevelt
Skerrit, on
UNDP's
website. After
putting
questions in
writing to
UNDP, on
October 29
Inner City
Press asked UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric more
about it, video here, transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: you may
again say this
is subject to
an inquiry,
but I think
it's a...
various
documents were
signed at that
Macau
South-South
event in
August, and at
least as to
Dominica, the
document was
signed by a UN
official as
well. It
was a
tripartite
signing for
some
technology
centre.
So the
question is,
are these
documents that
the UN signed
with a
Government, a
now-indicted
essentially
Foundation and
the UN, can
those... are
those
documents
available?
Spokesman:
You know
what? I
can't answer
that, because
I don't know
exactly what
documents
you're talking
about.
Inner City
Press:
It's called a
tripartite
agreement for
technology
transfer
center in
Dominica.
[Cross talk]
Spokesman:
Let me take a
look at it.
Inner City
Press:
And did the UN
staff... UNDP
still hasn't
given a list
of its people
that were
there, but
since there
were
Secretariat
staff there, I
wanted... I've
asked you this
before...
Spokesman:
I think the
list has... I
mean, I'll
check...
Inner City
Press:
There is a
list, but it
has no UNDP
people on
it...
[Cross talk]
... if you see
what I'm
saying.
Spokesman:
I'll see
what...
Inner City
Press:
I've seen that
list.
I've seen that
list, and as
to the people
from the
Global Compact
and DFS, I've
asked you
before, who
paid for their
travel?
Were their
hotel or local
expenses paid
by Mr.
Ng? And
did they get
DSA at the
same time?
Spokesman:
As I said, I
think all of
these things
are being
looked at at
the audit.
It is reported
that
"Skerrit
showed up in
Macau and on
August 26,
2015 signed a
Letter of
Commitment
with Lap Seng
under which
the Sun Kian
IP Group
Foundation
would fund the
establishment
of a
Technology
Transfer
Facility on
Dominica to
serve the
Caribbean and
Latin America.
The Letter of
Commitment was
also signed by
Ms. Teresa
Liu, Division
Chief at the
UN Office on
South-South
Cooperation."
That
office, in
UNDP, has
refused
multiple Inner
City Press
requests
publicly
answer
questions.
What is the
document that
UNDP
co-signed? Who
paid UNDP (and
UN) staff
members costs
in Macau?
As to
Dominica: Why
didn't Skerrit
say he was
going to
Macau? Does he
have an
armored
Mercedes Benz
and if so, who
paid for it?
Have the
prosecutors in
the US asked
to speak with
him? Yet?
We'll have
more on this -
and on
Dominica's
granting of
diplomatic
passports, and
immunity, to
non-nationals
- includign Ng
Lap Seng, as
emerged in his
bail hearing.
Last
week deputy UN
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
told Inner
City Press
UNDP would
answer about
UN Secretariat
staff's travel
to Macau, but
that hasn't
happened.
Murky
dealing in
Ban's UN have
stretch back
some time.
Beyond Frank
Liu and his
sponsorship of
UN
Peacekeeping
day, for
example, there
was Paulo
Zampolli,
reported on
here by
Inner City
Press using a
UN-like logo.
Tying these
together,
Zampolli went
out to receive
a diplomatic
position, and
immunity, from
Dominica. Yet
Ban's UN says
it knows
nothing of
this, that the
only problem
is with the
Office of the
President of
the General
Assembly.
We'll have
more on this.
On October 23,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon about
it and he said
he has set up
a "small task
force" under
his chief of
staff Susana
Malcorra. Video here; transcript
below.
But the
most cursory
research finds
that Malcorra
accepted one
of Ng's South
South Awards
in 2014 for
Ban Ki-moon. Video here.
With all due
respect, how
can she be in
charge of
reviewing how
Ng penetrated
the UN?
Inner City
Press put this
question to
Ban's
spokesman
Stephen
Dujarric on
October 26. Transcript here.
Where are Ng's
iPads? We'll
have more on
this.
From the UN's
October 23
transcript:
Inner City
Press: I
wanted to ask
about what has
been called
the John Ashe
case -- what
do you
conclude from
what has come
out so far on
how it
penetrated the
UN and what
type of
reforms do you
think are
needed?
Thank you.
SG Ban
Ki-moon:
"About this
former PGA
(President of
the General
Assembly) John
Ashe's case, I
was really
shocked and
very concerned
to learn of
this serious
allegation
against John
Ashe, which
goes to the
heart of the
work of the
United Nations
and its Member
States.
I have made it
quite clear
all the times
that the
United
Nation's staff
or leadership
should work
with the
highest level
of integrity
and ethical
standard.
That is why I
have made this
one of the top
priorities,
and I have
asked OIOS
(Office of
Internal
Oversight
Services) to
have a
thorough
investigation
and I have
established a
small task
force led by
my Chief of
Staff, Susana
Malcorra, to
draw out some
means and
measures --
how we can
make more
transparent
and
accountable
measures,
particularly
on the case of
President of
General
Assembly,
Office of the
President of
General
Assembly.
We have all of
the discussion
of this matter
with President
[Mogens]
Lykketoft, the
current
PGA. He
fully supports
what I'm going
to do, with
all this
investigation
by OIOS and
with our own
internal
discussions to
draw up some
measures to
improve the
conduct of the
Office of the
PGA. And
if necessary,
I'm going to
recommend to
the General
Assembly to
take some
legislation,
so that the
United
Nations,
whether it is
the Member
States’ side
or the staff,
Secretariat
side, we all
have a
responsibility
and duty to
conduct our
duties [in] a
transparent
and
accountable
[way], with
the highest
integrity and
ethics."
Alongside
this, Ban
Ki-moon's UN
Secretariat is
again
referring
questions
about itself
to UNDP.
On
October 22
Inner City
Press published the invitation letter to the Macau conference,
here,
which notably
said that “all
local expenses
will be
covered by the
host.”
Attendees tell
Inner City
Press that
those present
were given
iPads with the
name of Ng's
company
emblazoned on
them: where
have these
gone?
While there
were many
attendees,
over 170,
those from Ban
Ki-moon's
Secretariat,
some of them
mis-described,
standout. So
too does the
UN
Correspondents
Association's
Vice
President, the
same
correspondent
who took the
first set-aside
question to
Hillary
Clinton
during her
“email-gate”
stakeout in
front of the
UN Security
Council, and
asks if
questions
about the
private server
were only
being pursued
because she's
a woman. (Ng's
previous
interaction
with the
Clintons is
well-documented.)
Given
that UNCA's
Presideng
Giampaolo
Pioli accepted
funds from
Ng's South
South News,
which was then
given an UNCA
award while Ng
got a photo op
with Ban
Ki-moon at
UNCA's Award
Dinner at
Cipiani on
42nd Street,
the question
arises: what
was UNCA's
Vice President
doing on the
attendee list
at Ng's Macau
confab in
August 2015?
We'll have
more on this.
On
October 22,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Deputy
Spokesperson
Farhan Haq
about the UN
Secretariat
staff who
traveled to
Macau - and
was told,
paradoxically,
that (only)
UNDP could or
would answer.
UN
transcript
here.
As the scandal
unveiled in
the corruption
charges
against former
UN General
Assembly
President John
Ashe, Ng Lap
Seng, Francis
Lorenzo of
South South
News and
others
continues to
expand, the
compromised
position of
the UN
Correspondents
Association
has come to
the fore.
In 2011
until now,
Inner City
Press has
exposed UNCA
for taking
funds from Ng
Lap Seng
vehicles, to
which it gave
awards, and
arranging Ng
Lap Seng photo
op(s) with UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon. UNCA
has not
provided any
explanation;
the UN through
Ban's
spokesman has
said for
example that
many people
get
photographs
with Ban. But
people like Ng
previously
found in US
Senate reports
to have made
irregular
campaign
contributions,
and co-owning
hotels links
to
prostitution?
On
October 20,
Inner City
Press asked UN
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
about Ng, and
about how much
money the
Global
Sustainability
Foundation
gave for the
UN's “Ark of
Return” (anti)
slavery
memorial. Haq
wouldn't give
the dollar
figure - it's
at least
$60,000 -- and
seemed to says
it doesn't
matter where
the UN takes
money from,
only how the
UN uses it. Video here.
Inner City
Press:
Okay. I
want to ask
you another
question.
Mr. Ng Lap
Seng, who's
now out on $50
million bail,
it seemed he
sort of
penetrated the
UN system,
including
several photo
ops with Ban
Ki-moon
against a blue
background in
Cipriani's, I
wanted to ask
you, a major
financial
newspaper,
just on
cursory
research, said
he's a
co-owner of
the Fortuna
Hotel, which
has… quote,
this is all
from their
promotional
material,
table dancing
by strippers,
boasted
attractive and
attentive
hostesses from
China,
Singapore and
Korea, and
erotic girls
from Europe
and
Russia.
And I wanted
to know,
given, given
everything
that's said
from this
podium about
UN Women and
the need to
take these
issues
seriously, how
is it
possible… how
is it possible
that this, an
individual
engaged in
these
activities,
came… came to
such a
position of
prominence
and, and, and
closeness to
the
Secretary-General?
Deputy
Spokesman:
Matthew, we do
not speak for
David Ng Lap
Seng or his
group or his
business
holdings.
Any questions
on that have
to go to his
organizations.
The United
Nations does
not deal with
any of the, of
the entities,
with entities
like the ones
that you've
described.
Inner City
Press:
The money from
it was donated
to various UN
causes.
That’s why I'm
asking you to
respond to
this pending,
this unending
audit, what do
you think of
this?
Deputy
Spokesman:
The nature of
corporations
is that any
corporation
can have many,
many different
holdings.
I'm not going
to comment on
all of the
holdings of
different
groups,
depending upon
what they do
with the
UN. What
we're trying
to monitor is
how the funds
from these
groups
affected the
UN and the
dealings with
the two
entities that
we've been
talking
about.
That's being
audited, and
we'll follow
up on
that.
But the
group's
activities as
a whole,
that's an
issue for
other
authorities.
It's not…
It's not an
issue for the
United
Nations…
Inner City
Press: I
understand
what the audit
is…
Deputy
Spokesman:
It has
nothing, it
actually has
no actual
relevance to
the work we've
done.
Question:
It's just how
the money is
spent by the
UN, not where
the money came
from?
Deputy
Spokesman:
The audit is
designed to
follow up on
what effect,
what impact,
the activities
the groups and
of the monies
that they
spent have and
that's what
we're
following up
on...
Inner City
Press: Is it,
are you, is
the
Secretariat
yet viewing
the…
Secretariat
viewing the
charges of the
Southern
District of
New York as
mostly or
entirely
related to the
PGA [President
of the General
Assembly]?
I guess I'm
asking this
because things
like
South-South
News...
Yesterday, I'd
asked Stéphane
at the
founding of
the Global
Sustainability
Foundation,
there was Mr.
Nambiar.
There was the
spouse of the
Secretary-General.
There was not
Mr. Ashe
anywhere to be
seen. So
I just want to
be
clear.
Is this an
audit about
two… merely
two entities,
but as relates
to the UN
Secretariat or
just to the
PGA's office?
Deputy
Spokesman:
No, no, it's
as we have,
it's as we
described in
the statement
before.
It's about the
UN as a whole.
Background: Ng
Lap Seng was
found to have
brought the
same bags of
cash later
deployed at
the UN into
the US
earlier, in
the late 90s,
when his
Fortuna hotel
was linked to
organized
crime and even
human
trafficking.
From the WSJ:
“Who is Ng Lap
Seng, and what
did he want?
According to
several
well-informed
sources in
Hong Kong and
Macau, Mr. Ng
is a
mysterious
figure with
extensive
business in
China, where
he also held a
minor post as
a member of
the Chinese
People's
Political
Consultative
Conference in
his hometown
of Nan Hai in
Guangdong
province. In
Macau, his
most visible
interest is
his ownership
of the Fortuna
Hotel, a
garish
high-rise in
the gambling
district,
featuring a
20,000-square-foot
nightclub with
'table
dancing' by
strippers, as
well as a
massage parlor
and, according
to its
brochure,
'over 30
independent
karaoke rooms,
all
luxuriously
decorated with
the most
advanced sound
system for any
one interested
in performing
his favorite
songs.' The
brochure also
boasts
'attractive
and attentive
hostesses from
China, Korea,
Singapore,
Malaysia,
Vietnam,
Indonesia and
Burma together
with erotic
girls from
Europe and
Russia,
certainly
offer you an
exciting and
unforgettable
evening with
friends or
business
associates.'”
So what does
UN Women,
which has
still to
comment on UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous
linking rapes
to “R&R,”
same about
Ban's UN
(through UNCA)
accepting
“pimp and
trafficker” Ng
Lap Seng into
the UN, and
into UNCA's
Cipriani ball
for photos
with Ban and
his spouse?
We'll have
more on this.
Just as
UNCA "leaders"
from Voice
of America
and Reuters
(censorship
bid here)
tried to use
the UN to get
the
investigative
Press out, now
the UN
responds to
questions
about UNCA
selling
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon photo
ops to Ng Lap
Seng by
suggesting
that the
questioner,
because
present,
"condoned" the
sale.
Now,
with UNCA
still silent
on its links
with South
South News and
other Ng Lap
Seng vehicles,
here
is video
Inner City
Press
published in
December 2011
of UNCA's
murky photo
ops for Ban at
Cipriani,
which UNCA
seeks to
reproduce this
coming
December.
Even
then in
December 2011,
Inner City
Press'
accompanying
story reported
that it
"filmed what
it could of
the photo op
-- those
arranging it
kept telling
the Press it
had to leave
-- and
afterward
several in
Ban's circle
said they had
no idea who
the
businessmen
had been.
There was dark
talk about one
David Ng, a
businessman
who has
bankrolled
'vanity' media
projects given
awards that
night --
people funded
by Ng used the
word "vanity,"
so we use it
here."
Inner
City Press
published that
in December
2011 about Ng
and South
South News; it
quit UNCA and
with another
Executive
Committee
member who
quit in
disgust
co-founded
FUNCA, the
Free UN
Coalition for
Access. UNCA
continued
taking funds
from South
South News.
We'll have
more on this.
While UNCA
does not
represent all
journalists
accredited to
cover the UN
-- Inner City
Press for
example quit
the group in
2012 with
another
Executive
Committee
member and
co-founded the
new Free
UN Coalition
for Access
-- the UN
gives it a
privileged
position, a
large
clubhouse on
the third
floor of the
UN and,
automatically,
the first
question at
press
conferences.
But is
that
appropriate,
given that
UNCA received
money from
South South
News, “NGO 1”
in the
filing
against Ashe?
Not only did
UNCA receive
money from
South South
News: it gave
the group an
“UNCA award”
at a ceremony
at the
high-ceilinged
Cipriani's
restaurant on
December 15,
2011.
Inner
City Press,
which did not
quit UNCA in
fully ripened
disgust in
2012, was
present in
December 2011
and witnessed,
when Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon came
into
Cipriani's,
him being
shepherded
into a side
room for
photographs
with Asian men
in business
suits who
Inner City
Press did not
then recognize
-- but now
does.
UN
Spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric, when
Inner City
Press asked on
October 13
about what it
had seen, said
perhaps Inner
City Press had
"condoned" it.
Video
here. But
Inner City
Press quit
UNCA after finding
conflicts of
interest in it,
and being
"ordered" to
not report on
this.
From the October
13 transcript:
Inner City
Press: I want
to ask
inevitably
about the
revelations
about Mr.
[John] Ashe
and Frank
Lorenzo and
others.
And just as
you… as the
lead
Spokesman, a
person that
travels around
with the
Secretary-General,
how… what
would you say
to the photos
that exist of
the
Secretary-General
with David Ng,
who was since
indicted, and
Frank Lorenzo
and,
particularly,
in instances
where it
appears that
groups that
receive
contributions
from the two
and then put
them in a room
to have
photographs
with the
Secretary-General?
Is this
something
that… how does
the
Secretary-General
view this in
retrospect,
and what's
going to be
done in the
future?
Spokesman:
First of all,
a photo of the
Secretary-General
with any
individual
should in no
way be
interpreted as
a sponsorship
or
agreement.
It's just a
photo.
The
Secretary-General
is very much a
public figure,
attends a lot
of public
events where
there are a
lot of
people.
Sometimes
people come up
to him and ask
to have their
photo
taken.
And it's done
within the…
within,
obviously, the
security
constraints
that need to
be had.
I think
whether it's
the
Secretary-General
of the United
Nations or
anyone in
leadership
position, you
will find when
you travel
with them that
a lot of
people want to
have their
photo taken
with
them.
Inasmuch as
that is… we
try to control
that,
sometimes it's
difficult to
do so. I
think the
Secretary-General
is as shocked
as anyone in
this building
at the charges
that were
levelled at
these two
individuals.
And he's very
disappointed
at the
accusations
towards the
United
Nations.
Inner City
Press:
obviously, to
business
interests
having an
actual kind of
formal
handshaking
one, I guess
I'll just say
that that is
worth
something to
them.
That's why
they…
Spokesman:
I'm not… I'm
not debating
that point…
[cross
talk]
I'm just
saying that
having a
picture of the
Secretary-General
with any
individual
should in no
way be seen as
a sponsorship,
approval,
making them
BFF's or
anything.
Inner City
Press: I
guess I just
want to be
more
specific.
If an event…
and there's
one that
actually, as
it turns out,
I witnessed in
Cipriani.
If the
Secretary-General
enters a large
space and is
then taken to
a smaller
space for such
photographs,
what's the
basis for
that, as
opposed to
people with
selfies?
I mean, I
understand
what you're
saying…
Spokesman:
I think, you
know, if you
were there,
then maybe you
condoned the
event as
well.
The issue is
the
Secretary-General
attends a lot
of
events.
Sometimes
there is a VIP
reception.
None of it
should be
construed as
anything as
the
Secretary-General
having his
picture taken
with anyone.
Inner City
Press: it's
been a number
of days now;
I'm assuming
that, if not
you, OLA
[Office of
Legal
Affairs],
someone has
read through
this long FBI
[Federal
Bureau of
Investigation]
affidavit.
And I want to
just ask you
again, because
in it, it says
that, after
the… the… the
official UN
document about
the Macau
centre was
procured,
there was a
separate
payment to Mr.
Ashe, separate
communications
with a UN
official
number one,
who reissued
the document
as a… amended…
revised for
technical
reasons, with
the name of
the company in
it. And
it seems to
me, even
before you
waiting for an
OIOS [Office
of Internal
Oversight
Services]
investigation,
the scope of
which wouldn't
touch that,
who in the UN
is actually…
how does it
work, first of
all?
Who… which
part of the UN
amends
documents
after they're
released?
Is it DGACM
[Department
for General
Assembly and
Conference
Management]…?
Spokesman:
Listen, I'm
not going to
talk about the
specifics of
the
case.
But it is
clear that if
the President
of one of the
legislative
bodies in this
Organization
which controls
the agenda, or
a sponsoring
country for
resolution,
asks the
Secretary-General
to amend a
text, we serve
as the
Secretariat.
It's not…
it's… it
doesn't entail
sponsoring of
what's inside
that
text.
While
Inner City
Press' answer
to the
spokesman's
"if you were
there, then
maybe you
condoned the
event as
well," is that
Inner City
Press quit
UNCA
after finding
conflicts of
interest in
it, and
being
"ordered" to
not report on
this, we'll
have more on
this.
On October 13,
Inner City
Press asked
this follow
up:
Inner City
Press: I just
want to
directly ask
you about the
idea that it's
sort of people
struggling to
get photos
with the UN
officials.
There was a…
there was a
peacekeeping
day concert
that was… for
which
solicitation
of… you know,
sponsorship
was sought by
a group called
World Harmony
Alliance, and
it had
nothing… the
group has
nothing to do
with
peacekeeping,
but they paid
for day.
They… they… in
fact, the
funder
complained
that he didn't
get the
promised
photograph
with Ban
Ki-moon, but I
wonder, what
was… what's
the UN's
understanding
when they take
outside
financial
sponsorship
for such a
day? I
mean, former
UN official
[Ibrahim]
Gambari was
seen with the
same group
taking
photographs on
the fourth
floor in the
Millennium
Hotel.
What's it all
about?
What’s
happening?
Spokesman:
What former
officials do
in hotels is
really not of
my purview.
Inner City
Press:
Sure.
What about UN
peacekeeping?
Spokesman:
I would take a
look at that
actual
programme, but
I would expect
every part of
the UN to do
due diligence
when it
partners with
an outside
organization.
And
just…
I'll leave it
at that.
Photo:
here's
now-charged
Lorenzo with #UNCA prez Pioli,
by Luiz
Rampelotto /
Europa
Newswire 1/3 pic.twitter.com/9faId8FIGb
On October 12,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq, video here, transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: in
light of these
charges
against John
Ashe, Frank
Lorenzo, and
others, it's
emerging that
the
Secretary-General,
if not met,
had staged
photo
opportunities
with a number
of the
individuals
charged.
And I wanted
to know, in
looking at
this, do you
have some kind
of a comment
on how these
occurred,
particularly
in instances
where they may
have been
arranged by a
third party,
been arranged
by an
organization
that invited
Ban Ki-moon
and then
received funds
from
South-South
News or others
and then put
the two
together on
photograph?
Was that
appropriate?
And what would
be your
response to…
to OIOS
[Office of
Internal
Oversight
Services]
looking at
that or
otherwise?
Deputy
Spokesman:
Well,
regarding
that, as
you're aware,
the Office of
Internal
Oversight
Services will
do an
audit.
They've been
requested to
do that, and
so we'll be
able to see
whether there
was any effect
from either
the
relationship
with these
various
groups, these
two groups,
the Sun Kian
Ip Group and
the Global
Sustainability
Foundation,
and any of the
monies
received.
So, we'll
await what
they have to
say about any
of this.
Inner City
Press:
But, given
that Mr. Frank
Lorenzo has
been charged
and he's now
out on $2
million bail,
he was head of
South-South
News, which
spread $12
million,
according to
the documents,
throughout the
UN
system.
So, what was,
how, what was
the criteria
used to choose
these two NGOs
and not either
South-South
News or
International
Organization
for
South-South
Cooperation or
South South
Steering
Committee on
Sustainable
Development?
It seems like
it's a very
limited
inquiry and…
Deputy
Spokesman:
It's not
really an
inquiry.
It's an audit,
and this is
initial
step. If
OIOS feels
like there is
something…
there's a
direction
which they
need to go as
a result of
these initial
results,
they're
certainly free
to do that,
but we needed
to get the
ball rolling
and have an
initial step
forward so
that we can
look into what
exactly is the
impact of the
monies and the
relationship
with these
groups.
John Ashe at
UNCA with
former
president,
after and
before Pioli
click photo
for source /
credit
Back in
December 2011,
shepherding
Ban for this
(compensated)
photo op with
dubious
businessmen
was Giampaolo
Pioli, then as
now the
president of
UNCA. South
South News
interviewed
Pioli that
night,
bragging of
the UNCA award
it got / paid
for,
screenshot
from video
here.
Photo:
President of
UNCA, on SSN
before giving
them award.
How much has
UNCA gotten
from South
South? pic.twitter.com/9LnoW19IPM
(For context
it must be
noted too that
Pioli rented
one of his
Manhattan
apartments to
Palitha Kohona
then granted
Kohona's
request as Sri
Lanka's
Ambassador to
screen his
government's
war crimes
denial film
“Lies Agreed
To” in the
UN's Dag
Hammarskjold
Library
Auditorium:
this
precipitated
Inner City
Press quitting
UNCA, in full
disclosure.)
How can UNCA
be given first
questions to
ask about a
scandal
involving
South South
News, from
which UNCA
took more then
to which it
gave an award?
And what are
the other
implications?
(In
terms of Mr.
Ng's desire
for photo ops,
Inner City
Press is
informed that
he separately
wanted a photo
with US
President
Obama, and
paid six
figures to a
middleman -
who
disappeared
with the
money. UNCA on
the other
hand, one wag
noted,
delivered Ban
Ki-moon for
photos at
Cipriani's.)
UNCA,
it should be
noted, has
been and is
open to
business
interested
beyond Mr. Ng
and South
South News.
Another UNCA
awards
ceremony was
sponsored by a
company called
“Acoona;” the
Italian oil
company ENI
pays the group
money.
But UNCA's
South South
News
connection,
given what has
been disclosed
and charged
this week,
should at a
minimum and as
a first step
disqualify
UNCA from
first
questions from
the UN, and
from the
continuation
of its role.
Consider:
if it gave
rise to
criminal
charges that
South South
News paid Ashe
to get a GA
document for
Ng to show off
in Macau, who
about South
South News
paying UNCA,
and UNCA
delivering Ban
for a photo op
with Ng, that
Ng could use
for related
purposes?
We'll have
more on this.
Wider, and
going forward
in this
series,
limiting UN
investigation
to OIOS -
whose director
of
investigations
Stefanovic has
resigned,
Inner City
Press hereby
exclusively
reported on
October 9 -
looking at
only two NGOs
is laughable.
The scandal is
expanding:
there is a
pattern here,
pattern and
practice.
Watch this
site. Follow @innercitypressFollow @FUNCA_info
, 
