U.S. jury finds Macau billionaire guilty in U.N. bribery case

[July 28, 2017]  By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Thursday found Macau billionaire Ng Lap Seng guilty on charges he bribed two U.N. ambassadors to help him build a multibillion-dollar conference center.

Ng, 69, was convicted on all six counts he faced, including bribery, money laundering and corruption, in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Jurors needed less than a day to reach a verdict, following a four-week trial.

"In his unbridled pursuit of even greater personal fortune, billionaire Ng Lap Seng corrupted the highest levels of the United Nations," Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said after the verdict. "Through bribes and no-show jobs, Ng turned leaders of the league of nations into his private band of profiteers."

Tai Park, a lawyer for Ng, said in court his client had substantial legal issues to raise on appeal. Park later declined to comment to reporters.

Prosecutors accused Ng of paying more than $1 million in bribes to bypass the normal procedures of dealing with the United Nations, with a dream of winning "fame and more fortune" by developing in Macau what he thought of as the "Geneva of Asia."

Ng hoped the conference center, meant to serve developing countries, would pave the way for luxury housing, hotels, a shopping mall, marinas and a heliport, prosecutors said.

Defense lawyers countered that Ng's goals were consistent with the types of public-private partnerships that the United Nations favors, and that other diplomats abused Ng's trust.

The conference center was never built.

"We are exploring the possibility of requesting restitution as a victim to these crimes, including recovering expenses incurred to provide the requested cooperation," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said.

Ng Lap Seng, a Macau billionaire real estate developer, exits the Manhattan U.S. District Courthouse in New York, U.S., October 26, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Ng has been free on $50 million bail, living under 24-hour guard in a luxury Manhattan apartment.

After Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Richenthal warned that Ng could now be a flight risk, U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick modified bail by subjecting Ng to house arrest.

"He is not to leave the apartment: no ifs, ands or buts about it," the judge said.

Broderick scheduled an Aug. 7 hearing to decide whether to revoke bail.

Prosecutors said the recipients of Ng's bribes were Francis Lorenzo, a former deputy ambassador from the Dominican Republic, and John Ashe, a former U.N. General Assembly president and ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda.

Lorenzo pleaded guilty to bribery and money laundering, and testified against Ng for more than a week after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors.

Ashe was also criminally charged, but died accidentally at home in June 2016 after dropping a barbell on his neck.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Editing by James Dalgleish and Bill Trott)

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