Ex-UN General Assembly chief arrested over $1.3mn bribery scheme

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A former UN General Assembly president has been charged in a $1.3 million bribery scheme involving a Chinese millionaire and four others. A total of six top-ranked figures have been arrested as part of a broader corruption probe into the UN by the FBI.
John Ashe, a former ambassador to the UN for Antigua and Barbuda who presided over the 68th General Assembly in 2013, was arrested in Dobbs Ferry, New York on Tuesday

ccording to an FBI statement, Ashe has been charged “with tax fraud for failure to report or pay income taxes on the over $1 million he received in bribes in 2013 and 2014.”

“As alleged, for Rolexes, bespoke suits, and a private basketball court, John Ashe, the 68th President of the UN General Assembly, sold himself and the global institution he led,” US Attorney Preet Bharara said.

Along with Ashe, the FBI has arrested Deputy UN Ambassador for the Dominican Republic Francis Lorenzo, and the CEO and finance director of a New York-based NGO: Shiwei Yan (aka Sheri Yan) and Heidi Hong Piao (Heidi Park).

“If proven, today’s charges will confirm that the cancer of corruption that plagues too many local and state governments infects the United Nations as well,” Bharara said.


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