In UN
Bribery Case
Patrick Ho
Guilty on 7 of
8 Charges
Offered Deby
Weapons for
Oil Exhibits
Slam UN
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Video
I II
III
RS
HK
FEDERAL
COURTHOUSE, December 5 – In
the UN bribery prosecution by
the US against Patrick Ho of
China Energy Fund Committee,
both prosecution and defense
did their summations on
December 4. On December 5 at 2
pm the jurors quickly found Ho
guilty on seven of the eight
changes against him: all five
under the Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act and money
laundering and conspiracy for
the Uganda scheme with Sam
Kutesa and Museveni but NOT
for money laundering in Chad
There the payment was $2
million in cash - it was never
laundered. The UN has
yet to act: it has left CEFC
accredited while banning the
Press that reported on it, and
on this
(CEFC moving to violate
Iran sanctions). On December 4
prosecutor Daniel Richenthal
did a rebuttal on both the
Chad and Uganda schemes.
Richenthal tried to
rehabilitate Cheikh Gadio,
saying the money he took from
an unnamed courier from a
businessman was only $20,000
and that Gadio hadn't lied
about it. He emphasized the
emails as evidence and ended
with a photo of Ho with
Uganda's oil minister, looking
at a map of sites. Ho paid to
be there, Richenthal said.
This is what bribery looks
like. Judge Loretta Preska
deliverd a nearly two hour
jury charge, including the
Uganda anti-corruption law
that must mena little, if
Kutesa hasn't been charged
under it. Th jury will
returned at 10 am on December
5, now a Federal holiday in
honor of George H.W. Bush (who
nominated Preska). Defense
attorney Edward Kim urged them
to request and review many
exhibits, and it's to some of
those that Inner City Press
will not turn. Watch this
site. It still seems that the
US does not know if the gift
boxes CEFC brought to Kampala
on its jet included $500,000
in cash. Prosecutor Douglas
Zolkind said it doesn't
matter. But it surely did
matter to Museveni - and to
the Ugandan people, if they
and their votes matter (see,
e.g., Bobi Wine). And it
mattered to the defense, whose
Edward Kim made much of the
$500,000 discrepancy, as well
as calling Gadio a liar. Next
up: Richenthal for the
prosecution, and the charge.
On the afternoon of December 3
the jury charge was agreed to,
after the defense temporarily
argued that "New York, New
York" might not be in
Manhattan and thus in the
Southern District's
jurisdiction. Prosecutor
Daniel Richenthal said he was
ready to re-open his case to
prove the 60 Wall Street,
where Deutsche Bank is, is in
fact in Manhattan. Defense
attorney Benjamin Rosenberg
said, after a time, "We won't
make that objection. Judge
Preska said, "That's a wise
move." She also asked if the
exhibits had been made
available. Inner City Press
replied Not yet, which remains
the case as least as to it as
of 6:35 pm the night before
summations. (Before 9 am Inner
City Press had written
requesting particular
exhibits, on which we will
have more.)
Despite
Wednesday's national holiday
in honor of George H.W. Bush
(of whom Judge Preska spoke a
number of times during
Tuesday's down-times), Ho will
on that day be produced
(legalese requiring
translation from the largely
Hong Kong media left) the jury
will deliberate. We'll be
there. There was hardly any
defense, other than the
explosive cross examination of
Senegal's former foreign
minister Cheikh Gadio (who
admitted taking cash from an
undisclosed businessman for
his previous presidential
campaign). The government
finally put into evidence
CEFC's purchase of Apartment
78B in Trump World Tower,
which PGA Vuk Jeremic, Gadio
and others visited. There were
weapons for oil offers
prepared inside the UN. The
jury will be charged on
December 4. on the morning of
November 30 the
prosecution detailed how
CEFC bought UN PGA Sam Kutesa
- and played an audio wiretap
of Ho discussing bribing UN
PGA John Ash with Sheri Yan,
who did jail time in the first
UN bribery case of Ng Lap
Seng. As to Uganda, CEFC
instead of $500,00 case did a
wire transfer - it was
cheaper, through pliant HSBC
bank which also money launders
for Mexican drug cartels - and
there was Ho, in purple like
today, as Museveni's
inauguration. He brought gift
with him - a vase, painting,
what locked to be a clock - to
a dinner at Kutesa's
residence. Then the
prosecution flashed a list of
the times Ho entered the UN -
the UN has that information,
you see, though they refused
to provide it when Inner City
Press asked, as to Francis
Lorenzo, Ho and Carlos Garcia,
preferring to ban Inner City
Press. The prosecution left
for Monday showing the
agreement under which CEFC and
its missing Chairman Ye bought
unit 78B in Trump World Tower.
After a wan cross examination
by Ho's lawyer Benjamin
Rosenberg (Judge Preska
essentially shut him down),
the jury was told they may get
the case as early as
Wednesday, when Antonio
Guterres like his predecessor
will be put up for sale at
Cipriani on 42nd Street. This
week, along with the depths of
UN corruption, revealed how in
China the formal government
has a murky relationship with
quasi state firms like CEFC,
which on the one hand paved
Xi's way into the Czech
Republic and on the other,
tried to get Chad's Deby to
"make" Chinese state oil
company CNPC to get it a piece
of the action, perhaps for the
Defense Committee of the
Chinese Communisty Party,
presumably the sources of the
weapons and drones CEFC was
offering to Deby and others in
Libya and South Sudan. This is
the NGO that Antonio Guterres
has refused to audit and keeps
in the UN while roughing up
and banning Inner City Press.
Kutesa's sale of the UN began
through previous PGA Vuk
Jeremic, who told Kutesa it
would be "win - win" with
CEFC. Then Ho emailed Kutesa's
chief of staff Arthur Kafeero,
whom Inner City Press wrote
about before being banned from
even entering the UN by UNSG
Antonio Guterres. Later Ho did
his emailing with Sam's wife
Edith Gasana Kutesa, who asked
for money to supposedly make
good on an electoral campaign
to pledge help Kutesa's
young constituents (although
she also bragging that Kutesa
had no opposing candidate).
She wrote, Youth are impatient
- so send me the money! Ho
arranged for $500,000 while
pitching Edith on all the
things (and people) CEFC had
bought in Czech Republic. As
Inner City Press reported and
asked about before being
roughed up and banned by UNSG
Antonio Guterres, the Czech
Ambassador headed ECOSOC,
which refused to even look
into CEFC's accreditation
after Ho's arrest. CEFC used
the UN to pitch weapons to
dictators. And Guterres is
covering up for them. Ho met
Kutesa and his son Isaac for
three hours in the PGA office
- the type of entry Guterres
is trying to prevent coverage
of - and as his "PGA
residence." Ho would email
Kafeera and be scheduled
as speaker at the UN,
which under Guterres took
CEFC's $1 million even AFTER
Ho was arrested. The UN of
Guterres is corrupt. Periscope
video here.
Also on November 30, finishing
up on the Chad scheme with FBI
Agent Galicia, a CEFC web page
with Bill Clinton was shown.
We'll have more on this. On
November 29, Senegal's former
Foreign Minister Cheikh Gadio
admitted he took $20,000 from
an unnamed courier from a
businessman he did not want to
identify. Then Gadio pushed a
journalist in the street and
told Inner City Press he would
answer its questions later. Video
here
(YouTube),
shorter
(Twitter).
But if that
seemed to give
home to Ho,
the upcoming
Uganda scheme
should not.
Whether not a
disputed
prosecution
chart comes
into evidence,
the undelying
timeline is
damning. Ho
for CEFC told
then UN
President of
the General
Assembly Vuk
Jeremic,
who was
already
working for
CEFC, that
they wanted to
meet his
successor Sam
Kutesa of
Uganda. This
culminated, while Kutesa was
still UN PGA, in CEFC's
chairman Ye Jianming being
named a special adviser to the
United Nations PGA. This is
disgusting, given that CEFC
was pushing weapons to Idriss
Deby in Chad. More disgusting,
Ho used Ye's inroaded into the
Czech Republic, whose
ambassador to the UN, chairing
UN ECOSOC, refused to act on
ECOSOC accredited CEFC even
after Ho was arrested.
Guterres and his spokesman
Stephane Dujarric played their
cover up roles in this. We'll
have more on all this. Gadio
is not the defendant in this
bribery case - he is, at least
so far, the prosecution's lead
witness, with a Non
Prosecution Agreement. But
does that NPA cover Gadio,
after his testimony, pushing a
journalist on the street
outside the court? Video here
(YouTube), shorter
(Twitter). Inner City
Press along with other
journalists, mostly from Hong
Kong media, waiting outside
the Southern District of New
York courthouse at day's end.
Gadio emerged and Inner City
Press asked him how he thought
the day had gone. He did not
answer but rushed past. Inner
City Press asked, louder, "Are
you still running for
president of Senegal?" Gadio
turned back and pushed a
journalist who was following
him. This happened again a few
blocks away. Finally on the
stoop of a pharmacy on Canal
Street Gadio's companion said
he would not be answering
questions today but to give
your business card. Inner City
Press gave its and asked if
the former President of
Senegal Gadio who took money
from China for dropping Taiwan
was Abdoulaye Wade. Gadio
looked back in recognition -
then was gone. Inner City
Press previously questioned
him in the UN when he was the
Organization for Islamic
Cooperation's envoy on the
Central African Republic. Much
has changed since then. As
Inner City Press reported
yesterday, Gadio was already
on shaky ground when his email
to Ho complaining he hadn't
gotten Chinese money after, as
Senegal's foreign minister in
2005, he worked to drop Taiwan
and recognize the PR of China.
But the bag of (campaign) cash
allegation, dropped without
warning in cross examination
by Edward Kim, caused a break
in the proceeding. Inner City
Press rushed down to retrieve
its phone and tweet
and quickly live stream the
news, here.
Back upstairs, the name of the
businessman was not disclosed,
allegedly to protect him -
from current president Macky
Sall? We'll have more on this.
Gadio testified for a second
day about how he tried to
broker weapons to Chad's
President Idriss Deby from
CEFC's Patrick Ho, who
delivered gift boxes with $2
million in cash inside.
Gadio's testimony got more
specific, that in March 2015
Deby wanted to keep the
meeting with CEFC small and
confidential, "because of the
war situation." Gadio cited
Boko Haram, and Ho in a text
message said CEFC's offer, for
CNPC's 10%, was $200 million
"and some arms." This is the
head of a still UN accredited
NGO, offering weapons for oil
- with no audit by SG Antonio
Guterres. Gadio tried to get
paid for offering
opportunities with the Chad -
Cameroon pipelines. Gadio's
firm Sarata had its bank
account in Dubai closed for
not being able to document
where the money came from; his
joint UN tax return with his
wife, the head of the UN in
Equatorial Guinea, was found
to be false and is part of
Gadio's non prosecution
agreement. And the UN? And
Gadio's reiterated dream to
run for President of Senegal,
after saying in writing he
wanted money from China, while
foreign minister, for flipping
the country from Taiwan to the
PR of China? The defense began
its cross examination shortly
before the lunch break,
getting Gadio to admit he
misspoke when he claimed Deby
was calling him everyday.
Mid-day Periscope video here.
These will be more in the
afternoon, which we'll report,
while Guterres' UN tries to
cover up the corruption in its
walls - by banning the Press.
Watch this site.
- and what
happened afterwards. But there
are clouds on the horizon,
unless Judge Preska swats them
down, for the cross
examination of Gadio. The
lawyers for Ho, who it seems
clear was using the corrupt
UN's "special consultative
status" to promote oil
business and military
equipment, point out these US
statements, which the
prosecutions does not want the
jury to hear about: "That Dr.
Gadio had intentionally
omitted a key asset from his
disclosures to
Pretrial Services (Ex. A at 20
(“[T]he only reasonable
interpretation of that is Mr.
Gadio doesn’t want to admit
his association with that firm
although it is not
reasonably subject to
dispute.”));
• That Dr. Gadio’s statement
in an email to Dr. Ho in 2014
was “referring to a $2
million bribe that Mr. Gadio
later wrote about how he
should get a fee for and he
negotiated it and he got
$400,000 to the firm that he
omitted from the Pretrial
Services report” (id. at 21);
• That Dr. Gadio had “admitted
facts that the law recognizes
as criminal” (id. at
25);
• That Dr. Gadio had omitted
foreign income from the
Pretrial Services report
“both to avoid taxes and
because he didn’t want anyone
to know what it was for
because it’s a lot of money,
$400,000 wire or two $200,000
wires . . .” (id.); and
• That the omissions are “an
additional indication [Dr.
Gadio] is running away from
what I’m referring to as the
Gadio Firm which he omitted in
the description of his
employment because that is a
serious problem” (id. at 26).
" These statements, like
Gadio's threat to trash CEFC
to Deby unless CEFC paid him
money, are serious problems -
unless blocked. The only
certainty here is that the UN
is corrupt, and a venue for
corruption. Gadio texted Deby
that his "Chinese friends"
were coming to N'djamena with
"excellent offers." But when
the meeting happened, after
speeches by Deby and Ho and
CEFC's Zang, suddenly CEFC
brought in gift boxes, "as big
as that TV," Gadio told the
court. Deby accepted them. But
then Gadio, back in his hotel,
got a call to return to meet
Deby alone. According to
Gadio, the coup leader Deby
was offended. He had no
problem with the cash staying
in the country, but required a
letter re-characterizing it as
a donation. This was provided
but Gadio criticized how it
was written. By this time, the
email made clear, Gadio was
mostly focused on getting
paid. He'd asked CEFC for
$100,00 for a Dakar event
co-sponsored by France's
then-President Francois
Hollande. (He also took money
from Total, Hertz and a
Zimbabwe cell phone company).
Gadio texted his son Boubker
in Dubai that if the Chinese
didn't pay him by January "we
will go to Chad in January and
destroy their reputation and
strategies in Chad! The
President will listen to us!"
This was ALL IN CAPS. When
asked about the threat by
Douglas Zolkind of the
prosecution, getting ready for
the defense's cross
examination, Gadio said he as
"translating my frustration"
which Zolkind repeated as
channeling. This might not
work well on cross, which we
will be covering, watch this
site. Day 3 video here.
Initially, UN President of the
General Assembly Vuk Jeremic
set it up, putting CEFC who he
went on to work for in contact
with Gadio. Both met Ho -
Jeremic with UN Security who
said nothing - in Trump World
Tower. Gadio used the UN to
reach Deby, in a "high level"
meeting on Central African
Republic. (In another Gadio UN
connection, when confronted
about the $2 million in cash
Gadio called his wife, the
head of the UN in Equatorial
Guinea.) UN PGA Jeremic's deal
making culminating in CEFC
offering tanks and
surveillance equipment to
military coup leader Deby
(Gadio lauded him a Pan
Africanist, citing no less
than Marcus Garvey).
Gadio's
emails may kill off once and
for all his ambition to run
again for President of
Senegal. In one, he complains
that in 2005 when he was
Foreign Minister and Senegal
switched from recognizing
Taiwan to the PR China, he
didn't get paid. He wrote that
the then President of Senegal
got millions of dollars from
the Chinese but didn't pass
through any to him and that he
complained to his Chinese
counterparts about it. How
will this play in Senegal?
Watch this site. The opening
statements were given on
November 26. US Prosecutor
Paul A. Hayden said Patrick Ho
used UN accredited NGO CEFC to
cultivate Sam Kutesa while he
was President of the General
Assembly, and is caught on
audio tape planning to bribe
other high UN official(s) -
and still no audit by UNSG
Antonio Guterres. On November
27 after former UN President
of the General Assembly Vuk
Jeremic under subpoena
testified about the role of
Cheikh Gadio in CEFC reaching
Chad's president Deby, Gadio
himself took the stand at 4:35
pm. Post-testimony stand-up
video here.
He said he didn't
know that CEFC's Ho would have
$2 million in gift boxes to
hand over at Deby's mansion --
he said he could "only think
of it as a bribery attempt" --
but that he "didn't walk
away." Why not? Gadio said he
wanted to get paid for his and
his company SARATAs work - and
then Gadio said Deby needed
help to fight Boko Haram, an
excused use for example by the
also long term president of
Cameroon, Paul Biya. Inner
City Press has heard from
Senegal that, contrary to a
portion of the defense's
opening statement, Gadio is no
longer running for president
there but instead supports
incumbent Macky Sall. He
stopped abruptly a few minutes
before five o'clock and,
unwittingly, stayed in the
court room as defense and
prosecution began to argue
about whethere Ho's visits to
the US when he did not enter
the UN should still come into
evidence. Inner City Press has
repeatedly asked the UN to
disclose its knowledge of how
many times Ho, from his base
across First Avenue in Trump
World Tower, entered the UN -
but Guterres' UN has refused.
Likewise, Gadio when asked to
disclose his jobs after being
Senegal's foreign minister
listed a political party but
NOT his stint as the
Organization for Islamic
Cooperation's envoy on Central
African Republic. We'll have
more on this - and this:
earlier on November 27 a CEFC
voluteer then staffer, David
Riccardi-Zhu, said he was
referred to CEFC by his father
who worked for the UN. He
attended meetings in CEFC's
office / apartment in the
Trump World Tower, where Ho
met with a yet to be named
"foreign representative from
the United Kingdom." He
described UN DESA bending over
for CEFC and its sustainable
development award - which in
2017 Guterres' DESA still took
CEFC's money for even after Ho
was arrested and indicted for
UN bribery. Inner City Press
asked the UN repeatedly about
it - and was then roughed up
by Guterres' security and has
been banned from entering the
UN 145 days and
counting. Earlier on
November 27, Jeremic described
doing work for CEFC while
still PGA. He tried to get
CEFC business with Mexico's
PEMEX through "Emilio." He
later tried to broker the sale
of a potash mine - in court he
said since this is related to
fertilizer, it is "a high
priority of the UN." He went
to meetings in Trump Tower -
the one across from the UN, in
Apartment 78B, not the one on
Fifth Avenue - and acted as a
go-between for a CEFC Texas
foray, with Noel Thompson who,
Jeremic said, promoted
wrestling in the UN. The UN
comes off as entirely corrupt.
And it emerged that Ho was
trying to cut his own deal,
around CEFC which is paying
his legal fees. As soon as
Jeremic left he started the
process to sign on as a CEFC
consultant at $333,333 a year.
This require a waiver from
Serbia, where he had been
foreign minister. But the UN,
then as now, has NO cooling
off period. Inner City Press
asked Jeremic about it during
the court's lunch break. He
said he had complied with
rules - Serbian rules. There
are no UN rules; UNSG Antonio
Guterres refused to audit
CEFC, lawlessly roughs up and
bans Inner City Press which
asks, including banning it
from UNGA week which must now
be seen as a hotbed of oil and
gas and potash deals. We'll
have more on this - it is
unclear if Jeremic will take
up the rest of the court's
day, or if Gadio may start
before the end of November 27.
On November 26 at 9 am before
heading to cover jury
selection, Inner City Press in
writing asked Guterres, his
Deputy Amina J. Mohammed and
Global Communicator Alison
Smale: "November 26-7: On this
the day the UN bribery trial
of Ho / China Energy Fund
Committee / PGA Kutesa begins,
please immediately provide the
UN's read out of the DSG's
meeting Nov 22 with China's
FM, and separately state where
the increasingly reported
issue of Chinese (government
aligned) NGO bribery in the UN
was discussed. Relatedly,
again, what safeguards are in
place for the SG's appearance,
for which money is being
charged, to ensure that the
(Ng Lap Seng) pattern does not
repeat itself on the evening
of December 5, 2018." Hours
later, lead UN Spokesman
Stephane Dujarric's deputy
Farhan Haq replied with this,
seeming recycled from the Ng
Lap Seng case: "Regarding
question Nov. 26-7, we can say
that the Organization has
cooperated extensively in this
matter by making thousands of
pages of documents available,
as well as providing access to
UN personnel." Did Guterres'
UN really make thousands of
pages of documents available
in this Patrick Ho case? If
so, how can Guterres claim the
case does not concern the UN
and merit an audit? We'll have
more on this. In the US'
opening, Hayden described Ho
meeting Cheikh Gadio for the
first time steps from the UN;
defense lawyer Benjamin
Rosenberg countered that
Gadio's desire to run for
president of Senegal made him
cut a deal at any cost.
Periscope just after leaving
court, here.
Longer YouTube here.
Before these openings, dozens
of prospective jurors were
whittled down to 12 with three
alternates. Among those not
agreed on to stay were the
editor of a major magazine and
a retired investment banker
who travels to get Democrats
elected to national office.
(We are not using names or
more - the insider scribes say
there is an understanding, on
which we'll have more). Most
jurors said they read few
newpapers, with a reference to
the Daily News for the
commute, Yahoo "junk" and
social media. They filed into
Courtroom 12A, the prosecution
estimated the trial will take
two, possibly three weeks. Ho
was brought in, wearing
purple; he looked to the back
of the courtroom, eight or so
most Asian journalists, Inner
City Press, no one apparently
from the UN. Some 35
prospective jurors were
assigned numbers and were told
the case involved charges of
bribery of Chad's President
Idriss Deby and of Sam Kutesa,
then the President of the UN
General Assembly, still
Uganda's foreign minister. Did
any juror feels biased? No one
raised their hand. Any juror
particularly burdened by a two
or three week trial? Many
stood up and, after sidebars,
some were excused including
one Amy Tan (called back to
the sidebar twice). The
defense had a jury consultant,
one Dr. Blackburn, described
to the jurors by the defense
as "with us." Mid-day
Periscope live stream at
courthouse door here.
The day before the U.S. has
asked that Cheikh Gadio not be
asked what he heard about how
the $2 million Ho gave to
Chad's President Idriss Deby
was used. The government
argues in a letter motion
to Jude
Loretta A.
Preska that
Ho didn't know: "Gadio has no
personal knowledge as to what
happened to the $2 million
cash that the defendant and
his CEFC colleagues brought to
Chad and presented to
President Déby. Gadio has no
firsthand information as to
whether these funds were
ultimately used, in whole or
part, for “good” or “bad” or
“permissible” or
“impermissible” purposes after
CEFC sent the so-called
“donation” letter. However,
Gadio’s 3500 material reflects
that, at some point, a
third-party told Gadio that
the money was directed to a
supposed good and permissible
use. Gadio does not know
whether this is true, and in
any event, he never spoke
about this with the defendant.
Thus, the defendant should be
precluded from cross-examining
Gadio
about what he learned
after-the-fact from any
third-party." The U.S. also
seeks to prevent Gadio being
cross-examined about
misstatements to pre-trial
services when he was Ho's
co-defendant. It is not clear
when Preska will rule on the
letter motion. She has said
the trial will begin at 10 am
each day but she is willing to
hear arguments in her chambers
before that. Inner City Press,
which covered the pre-trial
hearing even while banned
from the UN by UNSG Antonio
Guterres who is trying to
cover it up, not even auditing
CEFC's other and ongoing
activities in the UN, will be
covering the trial. Ho has
tried to use CEFC's ongoing UN
"Special Consultative Status"
to avoid criminal charges.
This and Ho's other motions
were denial by Judge Preska on
November 14, including a
motion to exclude testimony
from Cheikh Gadio, from
government expert Mr. Walkout,
and to exclude Ho's dealings
with Sam Kutesa's predecessor
as UNGA President Sam Ashe.
All of this will come in at
trial - and makes the failure
by UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres to even audit
CEFC's bribes in the UN more
outrageous. This UN-accredited
NGO offered to broker arms not
only to Chad but also Qatar,
Libya and South Sudan, about
which Guterres and the UN
purport to care so much. Ho
and CEFC offered themselves
as way to evade Iran
sanctions. This evidence will
come in a trial; the
government has agreed not to
mention terrorism or US - Iran
relations. A 23 minute video
of Ho's UN speeches will not
come in, being called "gauzy"
as is the UN of Guterres who
has banned Inner City Press
which covers the UN's
increasing corruption, from Ng
Lap Seng and Ashe to CEFC,
Kutesa and beyond, ongoing.
We'll have more on this. Ho
was trying to exclude
testimony from initial
co-defendant Cheikh Gadio
about Chadian President Idriss
Deby's reaction to the bribe.
The papers were filed on
November 13 and are first
being reported by Inner City
Press, which as it covers this
second UN bribery case has
been roughed up and now banned
for 132 days by UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres who
won't even audit CEFC's
ongoing activities in the UN.
Four months after the arrest
for UN
bribery of former
Senegalese foreign minister
Cheik Gadio and Patrick Ho,
the head of China Energy Fund
Committee full funded by CEFC
China Energy, his ultimate
boss at CEFC Ye Jianming was
brought in for questioning in
China. On October 4 Ho was
again denied bail. Periscope
video here.
On October 22, the new trial
date was set for November 26.
On November 12 Inner City
Press, banned from the UN by
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres amid its questions
about the CEFC bribery and its
connection to the Ng Lap Seng
conviction, asked Guterres and
his spokesmen: "November 12-4:
Now that it is clear that
Foreign Intelligence
Surveilance Act wiretaps show
Sheri Yan, jailed for UN
bribery in the PGA John Ashe
case, communicating and
planned with Patrick Ho of
CEFC, please explain why SG
Antonio Guterres has not even
started an audit into the
range CEFC's bribery and
interactions in the UN, why it
still has access to UN while
Inner City Press which which
pursued Ng Lap Seng's and
Yan's bribery even into the UN
Press Briefing Room (29 Jan
2016) and the Patrick Ho /
CEFC case, has been denied
access to anything in the UN
for 131 days with no due
process." Guterres' deputy
spokesman Farhan Haq conducted
a noon briefing Inner City
Press was banned from,
starting with a total of three
correspondents. Video
here. He and the UN have
not answered since, see below.
After he did not answer - but
he did answer
Yahoo News for a story which,
inexplicably, does not mention
Guterres or his failure to
audit CEFC's activities at the
UN. Others who have done
nothign about the bribery, or
about Guterres' roughing up
and banning of Inner City
Press, like HRW's
Ken Roth and
FP's Colum Lynch,
belatedly retweeted the Ho /
Yan corruption story. But what
will they and the UN they love
so much do? On November 4 Ho's
attempt to "suppress all
evidence obtained or derived
under the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act" was denied,
with a decision that no
hearing on it was needed. The
FISA information includes
wiretaps of Ho and another
bribing NGO the Global
Sustainability Foundations's
Sheri Yan or her deputy
planning to pay bribes. This
is described
today by the Sydney
Morning Herald, which while
saying that UN officials who
it leaves unnamed are
lavishing praises on the Belt
and Road which Ho now uses as
a defense of his alleged
bribes, fails to mention main
praiser Antonio Guterres. Nor
does SMH
- Shaking My Head -- mention
that unlike even Ban Ki-mon
with Ng Lap Seng, Guterres has
refused to even start an audit
into Ho's (and Yang II's)
bribery in the UN, but instead
had roughed up and banned
Inner City Press which reports
on it. Ng Lap Seng paid money
to a group Guterres is slated
to headline a fundraiser for
on December 5, a group he and
his spokesman Stephane
Dujarric use to support their
attack on the investigative
Press. We'll have more on
this. Hong Kong television has
broadcast a report on these
alleged UN and Deby bribes,
including an interview with
Inner City Press which has
been banned from the UN by
Antonio Guterres amid its
coverage of UN corruption and
Guterres' refusal to even
audit, has been broadcast. The
Court's ruling against Ho on
FISA notes that "FISA requires
a finding of probable cause to
believe that: (1) the target
of the electronic surveillance
or physical search is a
foreign power or an agent
of a foreign power."
There will be at least one
more court session before the
trial starts; voir dire and
jury instructions are being
debated. The reckoning time is
approaching. In a hearing
Inner City Press covered -
there were no other UN
correspondents there, for this
UN bribery case - it emerged
that the prosecution has
turned over 3,300 emails to a
vendor, and that each side
will meet with Judge Preska
"in camera" about Confidential
Information, under US v
Mustafa, 992 F. Supp. 2d 335.
Video here.
We'll have more on this. Ho's
lawyers, paid by CEFC, are
arguing that the Chinese
government's One Belt, One
Road (OBOR) campaign, under
which they says Ho's payments
were made, must be considered
at the delayed trial with
testimony from "Professor
Kirby as 'an expert in
contemporary China’s business,
economic, and political
development with a particular
focus on international
activities.'" Given the many
times
as UN Secretary General that
Antonio Guterres, who has
refused to even audit CEFC's
and Ho's payments in the UN,
has praised China's One Belt,
One Road - might Guterres be
called or offer himself as a
pro-Ho defense witness at
trial? Guterres already maintains
a secret banned from the UN
list including "political
activists," see here. His
failure to audit is also
covering up UN-accredited NGO
CEFC's communications with
"Iranian officials, apparently
so that they could discuss
potential transactions
involving oil or precious
metals. (See Gov’t Br. at
11-12.) The government
proffers “evidence of the
defendant’s interest in and
willingness
to broker transactions in
arms.” (Gov’t Br. at 12.)
Specifically, the government
proffers evidence that Dr.
Cheikh Gadio purported to pass
to Dr. Ho a request from
President Déby that CEFC
Energy intervene with the
Chinese government to cause it
to provide arms to Déby so
that he could fight Boko
Haram. (Id. at 12-13.) It also
proffers evidence that Dr. Ho
emailed with “an individual”
in March and April 2015 about
selling arms to South Sudan,
Qatar, and Libya." On October
9 the prosecution requested
that the trial begin later
than the scheduled November 5,
writing to Judge Loretta
A. Preska
among other things that "this
past Friday, October 5, 2018,
the defendant submitted a
classified notice pursuant to
Section 5 of the Classified
Information Procedures Act
(“CIPA”). The defendant could
have filed such notice a
number of weeks ago, but
waited until the very last day
on which such a filing would
be deemed timely under CIPA.
The defendant also did not
notify the Government that he
intended to submit such a
notice until the Court
directed the parties to confer
during last
week’s conference. The
Government now has to draft,
have approved for submission,
and submit
a classified response in
opposition, in which it
intends to request a hearing
concerning the use, relevance,
and admissibility of
classified information that
would otherwise be made public
by the defense during the
trial, and expects, assuming
appropriate authorization is
provided, to request that the
hearing be held in camera."
If Ho's lawyers were slow, the
US government's Voice of
America is more so: it took it
five days to report on the
public bail hearing held in
lower Manhattan on October 4.
Tellingly, the report
did not include VOA's
long-time UN embedded reporter
Margaret Besheer, nor did it
mention Ho's arms brokering to
South Sudan nor the name of
previous and convicted UN
briber Ng Lap Seng. Besheer
has worked with Secretary
General
Antonio
Guterres'
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric to
bar Inner City
Press from even entering the UN
and is involved with a pro-UN
correspondents group which
took $50,000 from Ng then
provided the venue for his
photo op with the UN Secretary
General. Similar quid pro
quos are expected with
Guterres on December 5 on 42nd
Street, watch this site. Back
on October 4 Ho's lawyers
argued that dropping the case
against Gadio - who will
testify against Ho - means
that Ho conspired with no one.
But Gadio will say he didn't
know Ho had $2 million in cash
for Chad President Deby in
gift boxes; he's being allowed
(or made) to say that Deby
didn't know either. But this
ham handed bribe was converted
into a bogus philanthropic
gift -- consciousness of
guilt, as it were. The trial
date of November 5 may not be
set in stone, as the defense
is planning a filing under
Section 5 of the Classified
Information Procedures Act
(CIPA) to use classified
information. Ho has a $2.1
million account in UBS, but
Judge Preska said this wasn't
the main factor in denying
bail. The sleight of hand on
Gadio has no impact on the
"Uganda scheme" with Sam
Kutesa, with whom UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres has
dealings. Guterres still
hasn't started an audit of
CEFC - which was openly named
in the court hearing on
October 4 - in the UN. We'll
have more on this. This week
in court filings the
prosecution make it clear how
corrupt the UN is, and why it
has banned Inner City Press
which reports on it: Ho bribed
not one but two Presidents of
the General Assembly, and
brokered weapons not only to
Chad but also Qatar, whose Al
Jazeera got the exclusive of
Guterres' selection as SG and
after getting spoonfed by
Guterres' spokesman Stephane
Dujarric on June 19
collaborated to get Inner City
Press roughed up and banned
since by Guterres' corrupt UN.
And STILL Guterres,
whose son does UNdisclosed
business in Angola, Namibia,
Sao Tomo and Cabo Verde, has
not even started an audit,
only roughed up the Press and
banned it now for 93 days.
From this week's filing:
"Evidence of Transactions with
Iran The evidence of the
defendant’s interest in and
willingness to broker
transactions in or with Iran
principally consists of
emails, spanning a
multiple-year period. To
choose a few examples: In
October 2014, the defendant
sent his assistant an email
stating, “I am going to BJ
[i.e., Beijing] this Friday to
see [the Chairman of CEFC NGO
and CEFC China] on Sat
afternoon. The documents I
want to send him before hand
in separate items are: . . .
7. Iranian connection
(brief).”4 On the same date,
the defendant sent his
assistant another email,
attaching a document, which
stated, in pertinent part: 7)
Iranian Connection . . . Iran
has money in a Bank in china
which s under sanction. Iran
wishes to purchase precious
metal with this money. The
precious metal is available
through a Bank in HK which
cannot accept money from the
Bank in China which holds the
money but is under sanction.
The Iranian agent is looking
for a Chinese company acting
as a middle man in such
transactions and will pay
commission. (details to be
presented orally) The Iranian
connection has strong urge to
establish trading relationship
with us in oil and products .
. . . The following year, in
June 2015, the defendant
received an email that stated,
in pertinent part: “The
Iranian team will arrive in BJ
. . . . See the attached.” The
attachment referenced in the
email was a PowerPoint
presentation entitled
“Presentation to Potential
Partners Iran Petroleum
Investments.” The next day,
the defendant forwarded the
email to his assistant,
stating, “For writing report
to [the Chairman of CEFC NGO
and CEFC China].”
The following year, in June
2016, the defendant emailed
another individual,
blindcopying
his assistant, and stated, in
pertinent part, “Will get [two
executives of CEFC China] to
meet with [oil executive at
company with operations in
Iran] in BJ, and [another
individual] also on another
occasion if he comes. You can
start organizing these. . . .
Other matters ftf [i.e., face
to face].” And also "an email
exchange in which Gadio asked
the defendant: “Do you think
CEFC can intervene with the
Chinese state to get an
urgent, extremely confidential
and significant military
weapon assistance to our
friend [the President of Chad]
who has engaged in the battle
of his life against the devils
of Bokko Haram?,” to which the
defendant replied, “Your
important message has been
forwarded. It is being given
the highest level of
consideration. Will inform you
once I hear back.”
The defendant also sought to
and did broker arms
transactions unrelated to the
Chad and
Uganda schemes charged in this
case. For example: In March
2015, an individual sent the
defendant an email, stating,
“I have the list and end user
agreement. Pls advise next
step.” On the same day, the
defendant replied, in
pertinent part, “Find a way to
pass them onto me and we can
execute that right away[].”
The individual replied,
“Attached. [W]e have the
funding and processing
mechanisms in place. If it
works nice there will be much
more. Also for S. Sudan.” The
attachment to this email was a
document entitled “End User
Certificate,” certifying that
the user of the goods in
question would be the Ministry
of Defense of the Republic of
Libya. The goods listed on the
document included numerous
arms. The following month, the
defendant sent an email that
stated in pertinent part: “It
so turns out Qatar also needs
urgently a list of toys from
us. But for the same reason we
had for Libya, we cannot sell
directly to them. Is there a
way you could act as an
intermediary in both cases?”
The person whom the defendant
emailed replied: “Qatar good
chance bc there is no embargo.
Libya is another case bc going
against an embargo is tricky.”
The defendant responded:
“Qatar needs new toys quite
urgently. Their chief is
coming to China and we hope to
give them a piece of good
news. Please confirm soonest.”
This is outrageous, that an
NGO still accredited under
Guterres was selling weapons
into South South, Libya and
Qatar. Resign. And, on
multiple PGAs: "among the
individuals whom the defendant
[Patrick Ho] is charged with
bribing is Sam Kutesa, the
Ugandan Foreign Minister. The
Government expects that the
evidence will show that the
corrupt relationship between
the defendant and Kutesa
developed between in or about
September 2014 and September
2015, when Kutesa was serving
as the PGA (specifically, the
PGA for the 69th session of
the UN General Assembly). The
evidence, in both the form of
emails and a recorded phone
call, also shows that, just
as he did with respect to
Kutesa when he was the PGA,
the defendant sought to
cultivate a
business relationship with
Kutesa’s predecessor, John
Ashe, who served as the PGA
between in
or about September 2013 and
September 2014. As he did with
Kutesa, the defendant began by
introducing himself to Ashe as
the Secretary-General of CEFC
NGO. And just as he did with
Kutesa when he served as the
PGA, the defendant invited
Ashe to visit CEFC NGO in Hong
Kong and to speak at various
events.
In mid-April 2014, Ashe
traveled to Hong Kong and met
with the defendant and others.
After the trip, Ashe’s aide
sent a letter to the defendant
thanking the Chairman of CEFC
NGO (who was also the Chairman
of CEFC China) for the
contribution of $50,000 to
support the PGA. The aide had
solicited the contribution
from the defendant prior to
the Hong Kong trip, and the
defendant had confirmed that
CEFC NGO would make the
contribution.
In or about early June 2014,
the defendant requested that
Ashe officiate over a forum
that
CEFC NGO was planning to hold
at the UN, and also attend and
officiate over a luncheon at
the UN the following day. (The
defendant made virtually the
same request of Kutesa once he
became the PGA.) The day
before the forum (July 6,
2014), the defendant emailed
two business associates of
Ashe, who assisted him in
raising funds, to invite them
to the forum and luncheon and
to request their assistance in
“urg[ing] the PGA to grace the
occasion with his presence and
to deliver a short remark.”
On or about the same day, the
defendant and one of these
associates (“Associate-1”)
spoke by phone. (See Ex. A
(draft transcript).) During
the call, which was recorded,
the
defendant confirmed that he
wanted Ashe to attend his
event. The following
conversation then took place:
Associate-1: So the last
question, so sorry if I ask
too direct. . . . [H]ave you,
made some
contribution to him . . . ?
The defendant: Yeah, we
already paid.
Associate-1: Oh you did?
OkayThe defendant: Well, not a
whole lot but it’s—it’s okay.
On a couple of occasions. But
I
think the major contribution
will come in after we talk
about what he can—what he can
help us with.
Associate-1: What you—what you
mean major contribution? It’s
after he return uh—
leave the job?
The defendant: Yes, yes.
. . .
Associate-1: Wonderful . . .
okay.
The defendant: That’s not
a—that’s not a problem. The
problem is—uh, it’s give and
take.
Associate-1: Give and take.
That’s—of course. This is
the—this is business, right?
The defendant: Yeah, right.
2 These two business
associates subsequently
pleaded guilty to bribing
Ashe, based on
conduct unrelated to the
defendant and CEFC. Ashe was
charged with tax offenses
arising from
his allegedly failing to
disclose bribe payments as
income. He passed away before
trial, and the
charges against him were
therefore dismissed." We'll
have more on this. On July 19,
the lawyers for Patrick Ho,
led by Benjamin Rosenberg of
Dechert LLP, argued before
U.S. District Judge Loretta
Preska that count after count
of the indicts should be
dismissed. Edward Kim of
Krieger Kim & Lewin LLP
tried to get Ho's emails and
text messages suppressed,
without success. On August 9,
Ho's appeal to the Second
Circuit Court of Appeals to
get out on bail was again
denied. Now the
prosecution,
opposing yet
another Ho
bail
application,
has written:
"Gadio has
been meeting with
the Government
for some time
and he is
expected to
testify at
trial pursuant
to a recently
executed non-prosecution
agreement.
And far from
weakening the
case, Gadio’s
testimony will provide
substantial
evidence of
the
defendant’s
guilt. As
the defendant
is well-aware
from a written
disclosure
made by the
Government
more than
four months
ago, Gadio is
expected to
testify, in
sum and among
other things,
that (i) the defendant
provided $2
million in
cash,
concealed
within a gift
box, to the
President of
Chad in connection
with a
business
meeting in
Chad in or
about December
2014, (ii) the
President
refused to
accept this
obvious bribe,
which Gadio
understood was
connected to
the
defendant’s
interest in business
opportunities
in Chad, and
(iii) the
defendant
thereafter
drafted a
letter to the
President, purporting
to pledge this
$2 million to
charitable
causes, but
the defendant
appeared to
have no interest
in doing
charitable
works in Chad,
and indeed,
the defendant
never asked
Gadio about
the status
of the
purported
“donation” or
made any other
reference to
the subject.
(See Def. Ltr.
Ex. A.) This
expected
testimony
considerably
strengthens
the
Government’s
proof beyond
the
already-strong
case reflected
in the
detailed
Complaint. The
Complaint
explained
that,
following a
December 2014
business
meeting in
Chad, the
defendant
drafted a
letter
pledging a $2
million so-called
“donation” to
“the people of
Chad at [the
President of
Chad’s]
personal
disposal to support
[his] social
and other
programs as
[he] see[s]
fit.” (Compl.
¶ 28(a).) The
Complaint did not,
however,
explain
whether—and at
what point—any
money was
actually paid.
Gadio’s expected
testimony
makes clear
that, in fact,
the defendant
provided $2
million in
cash directly
to the
President,
concealed
within a gift
box, and that
the pledge
letter was
drafted after
the bribe had
already been
offered. Thus,
the evidence
of the defendant’s
intent to
bribe the
President of
Chad is,
on the whole,
much more
robust in
light of
Gadio’s
expected
testimony." On
September
24, a letter
from May was disclosed: UN
accredited
executive of
an NGO still
in ECOSOC handed
Deby of Chad
$2 million in a
box, for oil.
This is the
UN, which
won't even
audit this
scandal. Guterres
is corruption
- and on September
26 even banned
Inner City
Press which reports on
this from a
human rights
event. We'll
have more on
this. On
September 15,
the day after
Ho's
co-defendant
Cheik Gadio
had the case
against him
dropped by
Prosecutor
Douglas
Zolkind, who
ask worked to
convict Ng Lap
Seng using
testimony of
apparently
still free
Francis
Lorenzo.
Sean Hecker, a lawyer for Mr.
Gadio said that “Dr. Gadio
looks forward to continuing to
cooperate with U.S.
authorities." But when Agence
France Presse reported it, as
picked
up in the media in
Nigeria, it was "Gadio Is
Cleared." Is that how they
report, for example, Manafort?
It is, you see, a serious UN
bribery case, even as UN
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres not only does not
start an audit of who else has
been bribed by CEFC and Ho,
but audaciously ousts,
roughs up and imposes a
ban on -- extended on
August 17 to
life
or at least #UNGA73 when
representatives of China and
Chad, Uganda and Senegal will
be in the UN -- the only
media, Inner City Press, which
asks him about it. Instead his
team solicits the same trolls
army as before, to monitor and
leak files to try to
post-facto justify Guterres'
censorship. This is
corruption, to the heart of
the UN. The trial of the still
incarcerated Ho begins in
November. Somewhere, one
imagines, UN PGA Sam Kutesa
worries, Chadian head of state
Idriss Deby less so. And the
UN of Antonio Guterres,
implicated, doesn't even audit
who at the UN took CEFC's
money, preferring instead to
rough up, oust and ban the
Press which asks. Fox
News story here,
GAP blogs I
and II,
Independent here.
On July 19 first Rosenberg
argued that under the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act, if
Patrick Ho is a "domestic
concern" some counts of the
indictment must be dropped.
The prosecution called the
argument absurd -- Ho is a
national of China and a
resident of Hong Kong who
acted for the "Energy NGO"
China Energy Fund Committee in
allegedly bribing UN President
of the General Assembly Sam
Kutesa, as well as Chad's
President Idriss Deby - and
the judge agreed. Next they
argued that even a series of
transfers from HSBC in Hong
Kong to HSBC in New York to
Mashreq Bank in NY to Mashreq
Bank in Dubai did not fall
under the money laundering
statute. The judge, citing the
the Daccarett case and Julius
Baer cases from DC, disagreed.
Periscope video here.
The motions to dismiss
were denied, and Inner City
Press left the court to deal
with the UN, where Guterres
even has Inner City Press
banned from covering his July
20 meeting with US
Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo, and Pompeo's press
remarks with Nikki Haley,
UNwisely held inside the UN.
We'll have more on this. Inner
City Press made this
connection: the president of
ECOSOC is Marie Chatardová,
Permanent Representative of
the Czech Republic to the UN.
Her president, in Prague
Castle, is Miloš Zeman -- who,
like Uganda's Foreign Minister
Sam Kutesa when he was UN
President of the General
Assembly, made Ye Jianming an
official adviser.
(Inner City Press' CEFC
investigative covered has been
picked up in the Czech media,
for example here.)
Now on
April 17,
Zeman is set
to meet this
week
with another
Chinese state
owned
firm, CITIC
and its
chairman, Chang
Zhenming. CITIC
is reportedly
seeking to buy a
stake in
CEFC's
Czech-based
unit CEFC
Europe. So
Inner City
Press asks,
would CITIC buy its
way into China
Energy Fund Group's
consultative
status with
ECOSOC, presided
over by the
Czech
Republic? The
Czech Mission
to the UN, and
ECOSOC's
supposed
spokesperson
Paul Simon, have
yet to answer
any of Inner
City Press'
written
questions.
This is
today's UN,
under Antonio
Guterres.
Earlier, Zeman sent two
officials to Chinese to
inquire into the status or, or
help, Ye Jianming:
chancellor Vratislav Mynár and
economic advisor Martin
Nejedlý flew to Shanghai on
March 13, along with
CEFC European division
head Jaroslav Tvrdik, and have
now returned. They said Ye “is
being investigated for a
suspicion of breaking the
law,” after meeting CEFC
President Chan Chauto. CEFC’s
Czech-based unit CEFC Europe
said: “CEFC Europe has been
informed about the planned
change in the shareholder
structure in which Mr Ye
Jienming will no longer be
active as a shareholder nor in
the company’s leadership. NOW
might Zeman's Representative Chatardová
belatedly take
action in the
UN ECOSOC of
which she is
President?
Inner City
Press has repeatedly written
to the Czech Mission to the
UN, to the attention of
Marie Chatardová
as President of ECOSOC, asking
how China Energy Fund
Committee given all of the
above can remain in special
consultative status with
ECOSOC. The Czech
Mission has not answered,
including when the question
is raised
at the UN's televised
noon briefing,
as Inner City
Press asked again
on March 19, UN transcript
here:
Inner City
Press: Deputy SG
Amina J. Mohammed
is going
to the Czech
Republic about
ECOSOC [Economic
and Social
Council].
So, I was going
to and may still
ask Brenden
[Varma] this,
but I wanted to
ask you
this. It
has arisen that the
China Energy
Fund Committee, the
ultimate owner
in Shanghai has
purportedly been
brought in for
questioning, and
it turns out he
was not only an
adviser to Sam
Kutesa as PGA
[President of
the General
Assembly], but
also an adviser
of the Czech
Republic
President.
The
Czech Republic
has sent people
to sort of look
into his
situation, but
the Czech
Republic also
has the
presidency of
ECOSOC.
So, noting that
I haven't gotten
any answer from
the Czech
Mission, my
question is…
Spokesman:
I think those
are questions
that you should
address to the
Presidency of
ECOSOC.
Inner
City Press:
I guess but my
question is an
overall UN
question.
Is there… is
there any… it
seems like it
might be a
conflict of
interest if your
President has a
business
relationship
with an NGO to
be in charge of
the committee
that is either…
how do we get an
answer if…?
Spokesman:
That is a
question for
the… that’s a
question for
Member
States.
Member States
elect the
Presidency of
ECOSOC.
They elect the
bureau.
Those are Member
State
questions.
I struggle to
answer the
questions
directed to the
Secretary-General.
I think Member
States need to
answer other
questions."
But again, the
Czech Mission
has not
answered repeated
written
questions. For
example:
"Hello - this concerned
ECOSOC, reiterating Inner
City Press' question from
November 28: yesterday in US
Federal Court, China Energy
Fund Committee was described
as a front for bribes paid
to former PGA Kutesa and
others.
See, e.g.,
HlidacipPes.org, Czech
Republic: “Global corruption
scandal. The CEFC scrap,
which the Czech Republic
does not notice much, though
it should” [citing
Inner City Press' UN
corruption coverage]
The US has executed search
warrants on this NGO's
offices. But it is still
saying it is in "special
consultative status" with
ECOSOC.
What action has been taken
by ECOSOC and/or its NGO
Committee? How is the
months-long inaction
consistent with the
principles of the UN and
ECOSOC?
I asked again yesterday at
the UN noon briefing, but am
told the Secretariat has or
will take no role. So I am
asking you again. Please
confirm receipt. Thank you
in advance."
The
Czech Mission, like Antonio
Guterres' Secretariat's
spokesperson for ECOSOC, has
refused to answer. As to the
Czech Republic, the reason for
inaction and stonewalling of
the Press may now be clear -
alongside Antonio Guterres'
Secretariat. We'll have more
on this.
Nor was the UN
even mentioned in the New York
Times' story about CEFC -
Kutesa was, but not that he
was PGA. This is propaganda.
This comes while the UN,
embroiled in a second
corruption case involving Ng
Lap Seng whose assistant
Jeffrey Yim was sentenced to
seven months in prison on
February 28 (Inner City Press
coverage here),
has yet to even remove CEFC
from its "special consultative
status" to the UN Economic and
Social Council. Now with the
Chinese government taking
action, for whatever its
reason, will the UN belatedly
move? Inner City Press asked
UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric
on March 1, video here,
UN transcript here:
Inner City Press: this China
Energy Fund Committee (CEFC)
case, the head of the whole
organization in China has been
called in for questioning, Mr.
Ye Jianming. And I
wanted to know, because it
seems like since that
indictment in November, China
Energy Fund Committee has
remained with special
consultative status…
Spokesman: We've… I've
answered that question
already. That is an
issue… the Member States… a
Member State committee grants
that special consultative
status to the NGO. That
Member State committee needs
to act if they want to
withdraw that status. Inner
City Press: António Guterres
is the head of the UN
system. Does he have…
does he have… has he taken
note that there are two
separate developing UN
corruption cases involving
briberies taking place at the
UN and what’s his response…?
Spokesman: We're very
much aware of the issue and
our legal counsel… our legal
office is cooperating on these
cases with the national
authorities." We'll have more
on this claim. Tellingly,
Reuters which barely covers
the UN corruption cases - in
fact, it has a board seat on
the UN Correspondents
Association which accepted
$50,000 from Ng Lap Seng's
South South News - "reports"
on the question of
Ye Jianming
and CEFC's business in the Czech
Republic, Russia (last
year's deal for a 14 percent
stake in Rosneft PJSC
for $9 billion) and Kazakhstan
without even MENTIONING
the indictment of Ho of CEFC,
and the clear reference to Ye
Jianming
in the indictment, in
connection with Sam Kutesa and
the Uganda scheme. We'll have
more on this. Ho was denied
bail on February 5, in a
lengthy oral order that found
the weight of evidence against
him substantial. On November
20, the US Attorney for the
Southern District of New York
issued an indictment against
the head of the UN ECOSOC
accredited China Energy Fund
Committee (CEFC) Patrick Ho
and former
Senegal
foreign
minister
Cheikh Gadio,
accused
together of bribing Chad's
President Idriss Deby -- as
well as, for Ho, of bribing
former UN President of the
General Assembly Sam Kutesa,
now as then the foreign
minister of Uganda, since
2005, allegedly for the
benefit of President Yoweri
Museveni. On February 5, Inner
City Press asked the UN
Spokesman why CEFC is still in
"special consultative status"
with ECOSOC, transcript here
(video here)
and below, than ran to the
courthouse. There, US District
Court Judge Katherine Forrest
asked Prosecutor Daniel C.
Richenthal to describe the
weight of the evidence. "How
strong is your case?" she
asked, to some laughter. Very
strong, he said, adding that
Ho has been emailing the
"Shanghai-based Energy
Company" (that would be CEFC
China Energy) from MCC
detention, to launch a public
relations campaign. It may be
backfiring: Judge Forrest in
her ruling denying bail noted
that if Chinese government
press is describing the case
as political, it would make
fleeing and remaining in China
all the easier. Richenthal
said that Ho could travel to
other places - he listed Chad,
Uganda, Iran and Russia. The
continued home detention of UN
bribery convictee was raised
by Richenthal and Judge
Forrest, and not favorably.
Gadio was alluded to as not
yet indicted - he'd said to be
talking about a plea - and
Judge Forrest emphasized
November 5 as the trial date.
She said there was leave to
re-apply for bail but said
such an application should
include what Ho's lawyer Mr
Kim called the "context" of
the payments. Kim said they
including country-wide
charitable and military aid.
From a Chinese energy company?
From the UN's February 5 transcript:
Inner City Press: Patrick Ho,
who is the head of the China
Energy Fund Committee, is
arguing again for bail
today. And the US, in
opposing it, put it in writing
that they've executed a search
warrant at China Energy Fund
Committee, the NGO's
(non-governmental
organization) offices in
Virginia. It seems the
China Energy Fund Committee is
still in special consultative
status with ECOSOC (Economic
and Social Council) even as
its offices are being raided
and… and its head is in
jail. What are the
procedures for… for…?
Spokesman: As far as I'm
aware… you know, the
consultative status of ECOSOC,
as opposed to the DPI
(Department of Public
Information) status, is one
that is managed by the Member
States. There is a
committee of ECOSOC that is
made up of Member
States. They give… they
grant or deny consultative
status to various NGOs.
I think we'll have to look…
you can contact ECOSOC to see
what the exact rules are, but
my assumption would be that,
if Member States grant, only
Member States can take away."
So, Guterres is doing nothing.
On February 6, after another
non-response by ECOSOC's
chair, Inner City Press asked
Guterres' and Dujarric's
Deputy Farhan Haq, video here,
UN transcript here:
Inner City Press:
yesterday, the… Patrick Ho,
the head of the China Energy
Fund Committee here, was
denied bail. And in the…
in the hearing, basically, the
prosecution said and the judge
said that she found weight to
be given to the evidence that
basically the NGO
[non-governmental
organization] was a front for
bribery to Sam Kutesa and
others. So, given that…
how this trial is going, I'm
wondering, again, Stéphane
[Dujarric] had said that the
Secretariat plays no role in
sort of following through and
making sure that China Energy
Fund Committee can't continue
to say it's a… in special
consultative status with
ECOSOC [Economic and Social
Council]. I've written
to the ECOSOC chair now twice,
28 November 2017 and today,
but I don't have anything
back. Is there any
spokesperson for ECOSOC that
can at least say what the
process is? Deputy
Spokesman: There is a
spokesperson for the President
of the Economic and Social
[Council], and I can give you
that contact afterwards. Inner
City Press: Because… because
Brenden… oh. Yeah.
Anyways, I'd written before to
that same individual, and
there was no response.
I'm just… guess I'm wondering,
what is their… what is the…
does the Secretary-General…
given that trial that's now
moving forward and what's
coming out in it, does he
believe in the same way that
he has… asserting himself as
to agencies on other issues,
that he should maybe get
involved to ensure that
there's not a… a named briber
saying that they're in
consultative status with the
UN? Deputy Spokesman:
"Well, UN bodies themselves
have been dealing with the
problems created by the China
Energy Fund Committee in their
own ways, but what you're
talking about is consultative
status that's granted by
Member States through the
Economic and Social Council,
and that decision would have
to be taken by Member States."
Then Inner City Press emailed
the alluded to spokesman, one
Paul Simon. Hours later,
nothing. In advance of the
February 5, the prosecution in
writing asserted that "since
the Complaint
was signed and
Ho was
arrested, the
evidence of
his guilt has
only become
stronger, as
the Government
has
interviewed
witnesses,
executed
search
warrants
(including for
the Virginia
office of the
Energy NGO),
and obtained
documents from
third
parties."
Tellingly,
this Energy
NGO, China
Energy Fund
Committee, is
*still* in
special
consultative
status with
the UN's Economic and
Social Council - and Guterres
met with Uganda's Museveni,
who is in the complaint, at
the same AU summit where
Guterres met
Sudan's Omar al Bashir,
without issuing any read-out.
The prosecution's letter cites
the "President of the UN
General Assembly (the “Ugandan
Foreign Minister”). Ho also
provided the Ugandan Foreign
Minister, as well as the
President of Uganda (who is
the Ugandan Foreign Minister’s
relative), with gifts and
promises of future benefits,
including offering to let both
officials share in the profits
of a potential joint venture
in Uganda involving the Energy
Company and the officials’
family businesses." On January
27, after belatedly dropping
CEFC from the UN Global
Compact, Guterres in Addis
Ababa met Museveni, with
Kutesa himself in Addis as
well. Museveni tweeted a photo
and read out -- "Met UN
Secretary General
@antonioguterres on the
sidelines of the 30th AU
Ordinary Summit in Addis
Ababa. We discussed regional
peace, UN reforms and support
for refugees." Meanwhile,
consistent his declining
transparency, Guterres did not
issue any read out. Did the UN
bribery scandal come up? Or
get further covered up? As
Inner City Press pursues this
story and others, Guterres and
his "Global Communicator"
Alison Smale, seen January 26
in South Carolina praising
a Chinese airline while
mis-allocating funds
meant for Kiswahili radio,
keep Inner City Press more
restricted in the UN than
no-show state media. This is
censorship for corruption.
Inner City Press
has covered
the Ho / Gadio, Kutesa /
Museveni case and repeatedly asked the UN Spokesman why
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres has not even started
an audit based on the
indictment, including of how
CEFC got its UN status and
even remains in the UN Global
Compact espousing
anti-corruption goals. On
January 16, Inner City Press
put the question directly to
Antonio Guterres, video here,
UN transcript here,
and below. Guterres said "I
will look into
it... We don't want the
Compact to have companies that
do not abide by the set of
principles." But a week
passed, and nothing. On
January 24, Inner City Press
asked again. And on January
25, Guterres' spokesman
Stephane Dujarric announced,
Matthew you've asked once or
twice, the Global Compact has
suspended China Energy Fund
Committee (CEFC China Energy).
But, Inner City Press notes, China Energy Fund
Committee is *still* in
special consultative status
with UN ECOSOC. And there has
been no audit of the other
connections. We'll have more
on this. From the UN's January
16 transcript: Q: Matthew Lee,
Inner City Press, on behalf of
the Free
UN Coalition for Access,
hoping for more question and
answer in 2018, as you said.
In November, there there was
an indictment announced in
Federal Court downtown of the
head of an ECOSOC (Economic
and Social Council)-accredited
NGO for bribing, allegedly
bribing, the President of the
General Assembly, Sam Kutesa,
to benefit the China Energy
Fund Committee. And I wanted
to ask you, that remains still
in the Global Compact, and
there hasn't been even an
audit or anything created. Why
haven't you started an audit
in that case? Why is the
beneficiary of what's
described as bribery in the UN
still in the Global Compact?
And how do your reforms
preclude or make impossible
this type of bribery that's
now happened twice under John
Ashe, may he rest in peace,
and under Sam Kutesa? SG
Guterres: "In relation to
other cases, I would like to
say that I'm not aware of
presence in the Compact or
whatever. I will have to look
into it. I will look into it.
What is clear for me is that
we don't want the Compact to
have companies that do not
abide by the set of principles
that were defined in the
constitution of the Compact.
There is a code of conduct
that is there, and that should
be respected. So, I don't know
exactly what happened in the
compact in that regard. I will
look into that." We'll see.
Ho's lawyers said in court
filing he would be asking to
be released on bail in
connection with his
arraignment on January 8, and
his argument included that he
is the head of "UN recognized"
NGO similar, Ho's brief
argued, to the American Bar
Association, the Salvation
Army and the World Jewish
Congress.
But when Ho
pleaded not guilty to the
eight counts against him on
January 8, his lawyers did not
in fact pursue bail, and
declined to comment after.
(Sidewalk stakeout photo here,
h/t) So, Ho remains in jail.
His lawyers' filing, dated
January 5, says Ho is "the
leader of a non-governmental
organization recognized by the
United Nations....After
leaving government service,
Dr. Ho became the Deputy
Chairman and Secretary General
of the China Energy Fund
Committee (“CEFC”), a Hong
Kong based non governmental
organization that has Special
Consultative Status with the
United Nations Economic and
Social Council. Other
organizations with Special
Consultative Status include
the American Bar Association,
the Salvation Army, and the
World Jewish Congress." The
proposal was for Ho to be
released on $10 million bond
secured by $2 million in cash,
into home detention in
Manhattan with electronic
monitoring.
We'll have more
on this - and this: continuing
a trend of under-reporting the
UN elements of the Ho / Gadio
case, as they did the prior Ng
Lap Seng case, Reuters "reports"
that Sam Kutesa, who
previously served as president
of the U.N. General Assembly,
has been Uganda’s foreign
minister since 2015." Well,
no. Kutesa remained foreign
minister of Uganda WHILE he
was President of the UN
General Assembly; cursory
research could have shown he
began as foreign minister in
2005, not 2015.
The initial
complaint has been turned in a
full-fledged indictment,
signed by the foreperson, that
Ho offered bribed to the
presidents of Chad and Uganda,
and the foreign minister of
the latter, Sam Kutesa, who
was President of the General
Assembly, to benefit the
Energy Company. And yet that
benefited Energy Company -
CEFC China Energy - remains in
Antonio Guterres' UN Global
Compact, and Guterres has yet
to order even an audit. On
December 20, before Guterres
went on vacation until at
least January 2, Inner City
Press asked his spokesman
Stephane Dujarric, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press:
there's now been, by a grand
jury in the Southern District
of New York, a formal
indictment brought back
against Patrick Ho, and I
wanted to read you… they say
in it the… the… the… now a
grand jury has given its
imprimatur on the claim that
the bribes paid… allegedly
paid were to obtain business
for the energy company, the
energy company being CEFC,
China Energy [Fund Committee],
which remains a U… a member of
the UN Global Compact.
I'm just wondering if there's
any update… seems like the…
it's not… maybe the
distinction was between the
NGO and the group, but if the
bribes were paid specifically
for the groups to get energy
contracts… Spokesman:
I'm sure colleagues at Global
Compact are following up.
Inner City Press: And is
the Secretary-General any
closer to… to ordering what
would seem to be a pretty easy
call to have an audit of how…
of… of the UN's involvement in
this and what it can learn
from this? Spokesman: As
I said, when I have something
to announce, I will share it
with you." After January 2?
Today's UN is corrupt. On
December 1, Patrick Ho
appeared in the Arraignment
Part, Courtroom 5A at 500
Pearl Street in Lower
Manhattan and applied for
bail, which Gadio had gotten
on November 27. But this time,
following a Pre-Trial Services
recommendation that bail be
denied and Ho continue in
detention, Ho was denied bail. At the UN, there
are photos of Ho with the
Secretary General, the Under
Secretary General of DESA, and
many others. There's more. On
December 4, Inner City Press
asked UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, Periscope video here
(2d half), UN transcript here: Inner
City Press: So on Friday in
federal court, he was held
over. Bail was denied
based on the seriousness of
the charges. Since then,
you've… there's been some back
and forth on why there's no
audit. But it appears
that he was put onto something
called the UN High Level
Advisory Group on Sustainable
Transport (see here),
was a member of that.
I've seen
an interview he did in the
building with UN Radio about
presenting a report, that
report, I believe, in October
2016 to Ban Ki-moon. So
it seems like he had much
greater UN penetration even
than Ng Lap Seng did, which
triggered an audit. So
I'm wondering, has the UN,
whether audit or not, can it
say how many times, for
example, one issue that came
up in the bail hearing was how
many times he was in the US in
2017. So have you… has
the UN determined the extent
of this now-indicted briber's
contact inside the UN, and was
he, in fact, on an UN High
Level Advisory Group on
Sustainable Transport?
Spokesman: "I will check
on that. If I have more
to share, I will." This is
called a cover up. Where does
the US decided to cut off the
prosecution? Inner City Press
has submitted a Freedom of
Information Act request, on
which the government has at
least for now denied expedited
processing, stating only "Your
request for Expedited
Processing for the FOIA
request EOUSA-2018-000784 has
been denied. Expedited
Disposition Reason: Does not
meet standard." This is
substantially less detailed
that the reasoning, even on
the disposition sheet, for
Ho's denial of bail. We'll
have more on this. During the
December 1 hearing Prosecutor
Daniel
Richenthal
said, Google the press
coverage of this case and from
Hong Kong you'll find articles
saying it's political. Inner
City Press has covered the
case daily since November 20,
and asked the UN Spokesman on
each business day (it did a TV
interview after the court
decision, and Periscope video
here)
- but it is the UN connection
which the UN tries to hide.
Ho's lawyer said he's been to
the US seven times this years.
The prosecution said, five
times. But how many times has
Ho come into the UN? The UN
keeps track of this. But will
they disclose? Ho's defense
lawyer, after a long oral
decision against him, said he
will appeal. Watch this site.
Hhours before Patrick Ho's
bail hearing, Inner City Press
asked UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric about Gadio's bail
being paid, in part, by his
spouse the UN's Resident
Coordinator in Equatorial
Guinea. Dujarric bristled that
he hoped his spouse would pay
his bail, but then when Inner
City Press asked how Gadio got
into the UN building for the
bribe moves described in the
indictment, whether it
involved his wife's position
as a senior UN official,
Dujarric said it would be
looked into. Really? Then why
has Antonio Guterres not even
commissioned an audit, as Ban
Ki-moon did after the
indictment of Ng Lap Seng?
We'll have more on this. Inner
City Press has zeroed in on a
November 21 event, after the
indictment, in which UN DESA
used $1 million from CEFC. On
November 30, after many rounds
of questions from Inner City
Press, UN Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric answered that DESA
has suspended work with CEFC
pending the outcome of the
U.S. case(s). Periscope here,
video forthcoming. He could
not, however, explain why the
$1 million went out the door
on November 21 nor why there
is yet to be a UN audit. On
November 21, Inner City Press
had already asked about the
indictment, and Antonio
Guterres in a typical half-way
measure canceled his photo op
about the event, but the money
was still used. Deputy SG
Amina Mohammed never changed
her schedule, but the UN now
insists she did not speak. The
UN also on November 29
declined to confirm to Inner
City Press Patrick Ho's role
on the steering board picking
the winner of the UN DESA
Energy Grant. But now even as
of November 30 Ho is still
listed and pictured on the UN
DESA Energy Prize Steering
Board, along with former UN
official Warren Sach and
current UNDP Administrator
Achim Steiner, who refused to
answer Inner City Press'
questions about any post-John
Ashe indictment reforms at
UNDP ostensibly out of respect
for the dead. Reform at the UN
is a dead letter. We'll have
more on this. After Inner City
Press on November 29 asked the
spokesman for the President of
the General Assembly, this:
"The Spokesperson was asked if
the President had attended an
award ceremony entitled
“Powering the Future We
Want/UN DESA Energy Grant” on
21 November.
The Spokesperson replied that
the President had not attended
or participated in any way."
But it was still on his
schedule as of noon on
November 28. What happened?
Who decided that backing away,
but still taking the money,
was OK? If the UN had a
Freedom of Information Act, as
it should, the answer would be
easy. But we will get it
nonetheless. Watch this site.
UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric
on November 27 insisted
to Inner City Press that the
indictment does not involve
enough UN links for
oft-traveling Antonio Guterres
to order any UN audit, as even
Ban Ki-moon did after Ng Lap
Seng was indicted; Guterres'
DESA even went forward with $1
million from CEFC after the
indictment. But beyond other
obvious UN links, "CEFC China
Energy Company Limited" is a
member of the UN Global
Compact, click here to
view, on which Guterres
cannot pass the buck to ECOSOC
or to member states generally.
CEFC China Energy is the 100%
funder of its namesake CEFC of
Patrick Ho; signing
its UN Global Compact letter
was Ye Jianming, who Sam
Kutesa made a Special Honorary
Adviser to the UN President of
the General Assembly, press
release and photo here.
When will Guterres' evasions
end? Watch this site. Dujarric
on November 27 also insisted
to Inner City Press that the
case does not involve any UN
staff member, that no audit
(even of the kind done under
Ban Ki-moon of Ng Lap Seng's
Sun Kian Ip Foundation) is
needed. But beyond CEFC's
money used by Guterres' UN on
November 21, after the
indictment, consider this:
Gadio is being bailed out by
the UN Resident Coordinator in
Equatorial Guinea. What did
this UN staff member know
about what is alleged in the
indictment, and when did she
know it? Gadio, after having
not gotten bailed out on
November 22, appeared on
November 27 before Federal
Judge William Pauley,
represented by Debevoise and
Plimpton, and obtained
conditions for bail. It was
Debevoise and Plimpton's
counsel who in seeking to get
Gadio released made a point of
saying that the other Doctor
Gadio is a senior UN official,
in Equatorial Guinea. Inner
City Press now reports: the
Resident Coordinator in
Equatorial Guinea, and listed
owner of 4210 Sugar Pine Court
in Burtonsville, Maryland,
20866: Coumba Mar Gadio. So
why did Dujarric say so
insistently and rudely, this
involves no UN staff member?
There is more, but we'll start
with this -- watch for the UN
to try to hide behind family
values, as it uses and
pollutes the sustainable
development goals to cover up
the illegal export of natural
resources. This is today's UN.
Pre-hearing Periscope video here. In the
courtroom on November 27 was
Senegal's Consul General, who
shook his head when the
prosecution said that a
"Chinese energy conglomate" --
CEFC -- or paradoxically
Uganda might help Gadio flee.
It emerged that Mrs. Gadio,
also a co-signer on the bond
and on a $700,000 bank account
with Cheikh Gadio, works for
the UN in a high position in
Equatorial Guinea. Still the
UN claims this case has
nothing to do with it, and
that there is nothing for it
to audit. This, from the UN,
is a cover up. Post-hearing
Periscope here.
Earlier on November 27, Inner
City Press asked the spokesman
of both UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres - whose DESA
used $1 million from CEFC
after the indictment - and of
President of the General
Assembly Miroslav Lajcak what
has been done at the UN in the
week after the indictment.
Nothing, it seems. Guterres'
spokesman Stephane Dujarric
told Inner City Press that he
did not read in the indictment
anything for the UN to follow
up on, contrary to the UN
audit conducted under
Dujarric's former boss Ban
Ki-moon after the indictment
of Ng Lap Seng. Lajcak
spokesman Brenden Varma told
Inner City Press to contact
ECOSOC and so it has, with
these questions: "Today the
PGA spokesman Brenden Varma
told me I can only asked
ECOSOC. So here are Inner City
Press' questions, on deadline:
What vetting of CEFC was done
before it gained the status is
has with ECOSOC? What have
been CEFC's activities and
appearances with ECOSOC?
Following the indictment of
Patrick Ho and the material in
the indictment, what steps is
the ECOSOC President or other
listed on ESOSOC's contact
page taking? On deadline."
While Inner City Press was
afterward told to also email
one Paul Simon, this bounced
back, slip-sliding away. The
first went through, and ECOSOC
is on notice, like Guterres
and Deputy Amina J. Mohammed.
Watch this site. Gadio's role,
described in the indictment,
was in bribing Chad's long
time president Idriss Deby to
the tune of $2 million. Now
amid calls in Uganda for
Kutesa to resign, see below,
in Chad they have turned out
2,000 to chant in favor of
Deby, channeled by Radio
France International. Some
ask, $2 million divided by
2,000 is how much, minus the
vig? In the U.S. this is
called Astro-turf, an
artificial surface for a
sports stadium, fake
grassroots. Similar moves are
afoot for Gadio. What is the
French connection? We'll have
more on this. Contrary to the
indictment which says Kutesa
stepped down as Foreign
Minister during his year as UN
PGA, Inner City Press asked
him on September 14, 2015 and
Kutesa said, "I am still
foreign minister." Scoop
here, video here.
While the UN of Secretary
General Antonio Guterres, even
after the indictment and Inner
City Press' public questions
went forward on November 21
with CEFC's money, see below,
in Kampala members of
Parliament are calling for
Kutesa to resign as foreign
minister. "President Museveni
and Kutesa should resign and
give Ugandans a chance to
cleanse their country,” Gerald
Karuhanga, Ntungamo
Municipality MP, said. Joining
the call for resignation(s)
are Lwemiyaga
MP Theodore
Ssekikubo, John
Baptist Nambeshe (Manjiya
County), Nabilah Nagayi
(Kampala Woman
Representative), Patrick
Nsamba (Kassanda North),
Monicah Amoding (Kumi
Municality), Barnabas
Tinkasiimire (Buyaga West) and
James Kaberuka (Kinkizi West).
Meanwhile the UN, implicated,
canceled Guterres' photo op
involving the CEFC money but
went forward and used
it, while the event remained
on the schedule
of Guterres' Deputy SG Amina
J. Mohammed, embroiled in a
scandal involving the signing
of 4,000 certificates for rosewood
illegal logged in Cameroon
and Nigeria and already in
China. Ironically, she will be
delivering the "Nelson
Mandela" address. We'll
have more on this. On
Thanksgiving eve November 22
at 4 pm in an otherwise empty
courthouse at 500 Pearl
Street, bail was sought for
Gadio, so he could spend
Thanksgiving in Maryland.
Federal Defender - assigned
counsel - Sabrina Shroff
lambasted the prosecutors for
delaying. She said that unlike
Ng Lap Seng, the billionaire
Macau-based businessman now
still under house arrest
despite six guilty verdicts in
connection with UN bribery,
her client is not a
billionaire. Notably, he has
said he is financially unable
to retain counsel. Judge
Marrero did not set him free
on bail, setting the matter
over for Monday after
Thanksgiving. On the elevator
down the prosecution was
accused of "white
man-splaining;" reference was
made to Daniel Richenthal, as
prosecutor in the Ng Lap Seng
trial as well, and to the UN
International School. We'll
have more on this - and
another of Gadio's roles that
brought him to the UN Press
Briefing Room in October 2015,
as "Special Envoy of the
Organization of the Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) for the
Central African Republic." The
UN, increasingly, is corrupt.
It is alleged that Chadian
president Deby took bribes for
oil concessions in Chad, and
that 2014-15 UN President of
the General Assembly Sam
Kutesa took bribes for oil
concessions in Uganda.
Kutesa's predecessor John Ashe
died under indictment; the
depths of the UN's corruption
extend into 2017 with the
signing of dubious rosewood
export certificates in Nigeria
by Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' Deputy Amina J.
Mohammed and set-aside
UN employment for the German
Ambassador's wife, via
Guterres' chief of staff. At
noon on November 21 Inner City
Press asked Guterres spokesman
Farhan Haq about the
indictment and CEFC and its $5
million grant program with UN
DESA, transcript here
and below. Guterres had a 5:45
pm photo op with the "Winners
of the Annual Award of the UN
Grant on Sustainable Energy" -
which seems
to have been funded by China
Energy Fund Committee, under
the heading "Powering
the Future We Want."
He "canceled," photos here,
but his Deputy Amina J.
Mohammed was still listed
giving remarks for / at the
event at 1 pm, though at 5:30
pm those remarks were not on
her website unlike later 2:30
pm remarks. On November 22
Inner City Press asked their
spokesman Farhan Haq, who
argued that the indictment is
only of "Doctor Patrick Ho"
personally, so it was fine to
keep and go forward with
CEFC's money. (He said Amina
J. Mohammed did not speak.)
But Ho founded and chairs
CEFC, here is a photograph of
Ho with UN DESA's former
chief. Apparently things are
more and more lax under
Guterres: even Ng Lap Seng's
Sun Kian Ip Foundation's money
was returned. (Kutesa was also
in the Ng Lap Seng case). Is
the UN more hard up? The
corruption is not past but
current. From the UN's
November 21 noon briefing transcript:
Inner City Press: there was an
indictment yesterday by the US
Attorney for the Southern
District of New York that's
very… I would say… call it UN
related. A company
called China Energy Fund
Committee was… as alleged,
funnelled $500,000 bribes to
Sam Kutesa, former President
of the General Assembly.
The indictment describes the
meetings taking place not… on
this very floor, on the second
floor, setting up these
bribes. And so I have a
couple of questions. One
is… and these were… these…
mentioned in the indictment is
the President of Uganda,
Yoweri Museveni, who is… as
you know, is a mediator on the
Burundi file. So, I
wanted to know, number one,
after this indictment, what is
the UN's office of OIOS
[Office of Internal Oversight
Services] doing to look at
the… the… the UN persons that
may… that… implicated in
it? Two, is China Energy
Fund Committee still affil…
accredited by ECOSOC [Economic
and Social Council]? And
they seem to have a project
with DESA [Department of
Economic and Social Affairs],
a $5 million project with
DESA. And, three, what
does this mean for… for the…
Mr. [Michel] Kafando's and the
Secretary-General's view of
the Museveni role in the
Burundi mediation?
Spokesman: Well,
regarding the question of
Burundi mediation, obviously,
he has a role separate and
apart from the work of our
envoy, Michel Kafando.
You just heard a briefing from
Mr. Kafando yesterday about
what his work is on
that. Regarding Mr.
Kutesa, we don't have anything
particular to say about his
dealings as the Foreign
Minister of Uganda.
Obviously, he has served as a
General Assembly President,
and we want to make sure that
all officials of the UN,
including the General Assembly
President, abide strictly by
norms avoiding corruption and
bribery. Obviously, how
that is enforced is an issue
for the specific Member
States, so we would refer you,
in this case, to the Member
State of Uganda, which is
responsible for Mr.
Kutesa. And regarding
the CEFC that you just
mentioned, yes, they have
accreditation at ECOSOC.
We're checking with our
colleagues in the Department
of Economic and Social Affairs
about the nature of their
projects and what the status
of that is. Inner City Press:
There's a $5 million project
that's online, which I guess…
what I'm saying is, coming
after the Ng Lap Seng/John
Ashe case, it seems some sort
of consonant with it.
Basically, you have a big NGO
[non-governmental
organization] using UN access
to purchase a… if the
allegations are true, a PGA
[President of the General
Assembly]. And so, I
guess I'm wondering, from the
UN side, beyond referring to
the Ugandan mission or
whatever else, are there any
reflections, number one, on
how this process… what due
diligence did DESA do before…
before linking up with this
NGO that's clearly a
subsidiary of a Chinese oil
company that was paying bribes
in Chad, as well?
Spokesman: "Well, the
information about them paying
bribes is something that's
come out today. The
ECOSOC accreditation came out
sometime prior to all of
this. So, that's a
separate issue.
Regarding the sort of probity
we expect from officials,
including General Assembly
presidents, of course, we know
that they belong to Member
States, but we want them to
uphold the high
standards. This is
something we made clear during
John Ashe's time. This
is something we're making
clear now. And, of
course, I believe my colleague
Brenden will have more to say
about the presidency of the
General Assembly regarding
this. But, again, these
are issues that the Member
States themselves will need to
take responsibility for.
These are officials of Member
States. These are not
staff of the United Nations. "
The Kutesa scam began in long
meetings in the UN PGA's
office on the UN's second
floor - where the UN now
requires investigative Inner
City Press to have a minder,
unlike other correspondents -
between Kutesa and China-based
NGO China Energy Fund
Committee led by Patrick C.P.
Ho. The scheme involved Kutesa
naming Ho a "Special Adviser
to the PGA," and hosting an
NGO meeting in the UN in April
2015. Kutesa traveled as PGA
to China as part of the
scheme. Ho's approach was
through Kutesa's chief of
staff Arthur Kafeero, whom as
Inner City Press exclusively
reported in August 2015 Kutesa
tried to plant in the UN's
Department of Political
Affairs. See Inner City Press
scoop here;
note that the UN evicted Inner
City Press for its corruption
coverage in early 2016 and has
kept it restricted since, even
as UN corruption continues,
even grows. And what do the
member states do? On November
20 Inner City Press asked UK
Permanent Representative
Matthew Rycroft about the
scandal and he said, "I'll
look into that and get back to
you." Video here.
Update (no comment, cite to
SDGs, here).
From the US Attorney: "HO
caused a $500,000 bribe to be
paid, via wires transmitted
through New York, New York, to
an account designated by the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of
Uganda, who had recently
completed his term as the
President of the UN General
Assembly (the “Ugandan Foreign
Minister”). HO also
provided the Ugandan Foreign
Minister, as well as the
President of Uganda, with
gifts and promises of future
benefits, including offering
to share the profits of a
potential joint venture in
Uganda involving the Energy
Company and businesses owned
by the families of the Ugandan
Foreign Minister and the
President of Uganda.
These payments and promises
were made in exchange for
assistance from the Ugandan
Foreign Minister in obtaining
business advantages for the
Energy Company, including the
potential acquisition of a
Ugandan bank." We'll have more
on this. Sam
Kutesa had offshore
accounts in the Seychelles, to
receive funds from Enhas, a
company of which despite the
UN denying
it to Inner City Press is
listed as doing business with
the UN's mission in the Congo,
MONUSCO. The accounts, but not
the UN / MONUSCO connection,
have been revealed
the leaked Appleby / Paradise
Papers. Inner City Press on
November 7 asked the spokesman
for the President of the
General Assembly about it,
yielding only an answer that
the current PGA is striving to
make public his disclosure
form but will not speak to
former (or clearly, past)
PGAs. Video here.
But how then can the UN be
said to have cleaned up after
PGA John Ashe, RIP, was
indicted for bribery? We'll
have more on this.
***
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
Past
(and future?) UN Office: S-303, UN, NY 10017 USA
For now: Box 20047,
Dag Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2018 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com for
|