Ng Lap Seng to begin trial today

Ng Lap Seng

Macau billionaire Ng Lap Seng will start his trial today in Manhattan on charges of corruption, as well as the allleged bribery of senior United Nations officials over a conference center he hoped to build in the MSAR.

Ng has pleaded not guilty to the bribery charges. His former assistant, Jeff Yin – who was arrested at the same time as Ng – arranged a plea deal in April with prosecutors and admitted to being guilty of a single tax charge. Several other defendants in the case have also pleaded guilty.

According to Reuters, jury selection will begin before U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick in Manhattan, and the trial is not expected to last more than a few weeks.

The news agency cites several defense lawyers who have argued that Ng’s prosecution was politically motivated. One such motivation, they argue, is to limit China’s influence over developing countries in organizations such as the U.N.

Among other charges, Ng is accused of paying more than half a million dollars to former U.N. General Assembly president John Ashe, who died in June under mysterious circumstances while awaiting trial.

The alleged bribery was intended to secure Ashe’s support for a U.N.-backed conference center in Macau. This would be constructed by Ng’s real estate company, Sun Kian Ip Group, and serve as Ng’s legacy in the MSAR.

He was also allegedly behind substantial donations, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, to the Democratic National Committee between 1994 and 1996, while former president Bill Clinton was vying for re-election. Prosecutors suggested that the allegations, which surfaced in a 1998 U.S. Senate report, would not be brought up in the trial.

Ng was initially arrested in September 2015. He was soon freed on a USD50-million bail, whereby he was permitted to live in a luxury apartment under 24-hour guard.