On
Scandal, ICP Asks
UN If Ban
Raised Real
Estate to
Qatar Emir As
Nephew Said
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, May 18
-- UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon is in
his native
South Korea
for four days
and Press
questions
remain
unanswered
by the UN
about his
links to the
scandal
surrounding
the suicide of
South Korean
businessman
Sung Wan-jong,
and his own
nephew
Joo-hyun
"Dennis" Bahn.
Inner City
Press asked
the UN on May
15, video
here.
On
May 18, Inner
City Press
asked Ban's
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq an
event more
specific
question: did
Ban raise any
of its
relatives'
real estate
projects, for
example
Landmark 72 in
Vietnam, to
the Emir of
Qatar in a
meeting on
September 24,
2013?
Haq repeated
that Ban is
not involved,
that he and
Ban's lead
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric have
"nothing to
add." On May
15, Haq told
Inner City
Press that the
UN does not
have to
respond about
any relative
of Ban who is
not a UN staff
member, even
if they do
business with,
or with the
name of, the
UN and Ban.
Inner City
Press has
raised that
higher within
the UN.
The JoongAng
Daily reports
that its
affiliate JBTC
has obtained
an email in
which Ban's
nephew Bahn
Joo-hyun
wrote:
“QIA
said the emir
of Qatar had
an official
meeting with
the UN
Secretary
General at the
United Nations
[Headquarters]
at 11:30 a.m.,
and [Secretary
General Ban]
mentioned the
Landmark 72
upon request
of [Ban
Ki-sang]" -
Ban's brother.
Using the time
11:30 a.m.,
Inner City
Press searched
past versions
of Ban
Ki-moon's
schedule and
found such a
meeting:
"September
24, 2013,
11:30
am
NLB SG Conf Rm
3rd flr The
Secretary-General
with H.H.
Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad
Al-Thani, Emir
of Qatar"
But
the UN's
read-out for
that meeting
did not
mention real
estate:
"The
Secretary-General
met today with
His Highness
Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad
Al-Thani, Amir
of the State
of
Qatar.
The
Secretary-General
reiterated his
call for a
political
solution to
the crisis in
Syria, and
expressed
gratitude to
Qatar for its
support to the
Central
Emergency
Response Fund
and other
generous
humanitarian
assistance.
They discussed
the
Palestine-Israel
issue and also
the importance
of United
Nations
political
efforts in
Yemen.
The
Secretary-General
thanked the
Amir for
Qatari support
on the
Alliance of
Civilizations,
sustainable
development
and climate
change.
New York, 24
September
2013."
The Alliance
of
Civilizations
is headed by
Qatar's former
Permanent
Representative
to the UN. (On
May 18, 2015,
Inner City
Press also
asked Haq for
Ban Ki-moon's
response to
Qatar
detaining BBC
journalist
Mark Lobel
while he was
reporting on
the treatment
of migrant
workers in the
run up to the
World Cup
there; Haq's
and the UN's
response seems
muted.)
It is reported
that Ban's
nephew Ban got
business
trying to sell
off a
Sung-linked
skyscraper in
Vietnam by
saying that
Ban had
discussed the
project with
Emir of Qatar
(on whose
private jet
Ban has
flown), and by
reportedly
forging a
letter of
commitment
from Qatar's
sovereign
wealth fund.
On May 14,
Ban's lead
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric
replied to
Inner City
Press that Ban
has "no
connection"
with this
nephew -
strange, just
as a matter of
genetics.
On
May 15, Inner
City Press
asked Ban's
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq a
closer
question: to
confirm that
Ban's nephew
Bahn has
worked for the
real estate
firm Colliers,
and the
Colliers has
done business
with UN.
(Bahn's
LinkedIn page
lists him at
Colliers,
whose Vice
Chairman
Andrew Roos says "Some of his major
clients
include
various
divisions of
the United
Nations,
including its
Joint Pension
Fund... For
the United
Nations, he
has been
responsible
for more than
500,000 square
feet of
leasing
transactions.")
Despite
this set-up,
Haq insisted
that the UN
does not have
to, or does
not, respond
about family
members if
they are not
UN staff.
But
what if the
Secretary
General's
family member
does BUSINESS
with the
UN? Haq
insisted the
UN will not
comment, that
added that he
faced similar
questions "ten
years ago,"
apparently an
allusion to
Kojo Annan and
the Mercedes
in what's
called the Oil
for Food
scandal. To
this has the
UN sunk. Video
here and
embedded
below.
Inner
City Press
will be asking
again, if it
is legitimate
for the UN to
say it will
not answer any
questions
about high
official's
family members
using the UN
connections to
get business
and going
business with
the UN.
Here
is what UN
deputy
spokesperson
Haq said,
and then
the transcript
, 
