UN corruption scandal | Ex-diplomat tells jurors he got USD1m bribe from Ng

Francis Lorenzo leaves court after pleading guilty to bribery charges on March 16, 2016

A former United Nations diplomat testified that he got more than USD1 million from a Chinese developer who was seeking backing for a UN conference center that he hoped to build in Macau.

The developer, billionaire
Ng Lap Seng, is on trial charged with conspiracy and bribery in the biggest UN corruption scandal since the oil-for-food program in the early 2000s. He’s accused of funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to former UN General Assembly President John Ashe and other officials.

Francis Lorenzo, 50, one of the UN diplomats who took the bribes, told jurors in Manhattan last week that Ng hoped to build a permanent home for an annual UN conference on economic cooperation among developing countries. Lorenzo, the former Deputy Ambassador to the UN from the Dominican Republic, said the scheme ran for five years beginning in 2010. He referred to the developer as N.G. in his testimony.

“Why did you do what N.G. was asking you to do?” Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Zolkind asked Lorenzo. “Because I was getting paid,” the former ambassador answered.

Ng’s lawyer, Tai Park, told the jury in his opening statement that the payments weren’t bribes. Instead, Ng’s intention was to support the project, which he saw as a public-private partnership between himself and the UN.

Ng’s plan was to build the center for free to boost the value of a related complex of apartments, offices, a casino and hotel he also planned to develop. Ng and others involved were arrested before the center was built, Lorenzo testified.

The UN officials used their positions to advance Ng’s efforts to win formal support for the conference center development, including issuing a contract and agreement letters naming Ng’s company as the exclusive developer, he told jurors.

Six people were originally charged, including Ashe, who died in a weightlifting accident last year. In addition to serving as president of the general assembly, Ashe was the ambassador to the UN from Antigua and Barbuda.

The remaining defendants have pleaded guilty, with some agreeing to cooperate with the prosecution. Lorenzo told jurors he’s cooperating with the hope he will get a reduced sentence.

Lorenzo was accused of funneling some of the bribe money to Ashe. In his guilty plea, he admitted that he helped get a $200,000 payment into a foreign bank account belonging to Ashe, saying “the purpose was to influence John Ashe to the benefit of Ng Lap Seng and others.” Bloomberg