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Associated Press

A Macau billionaire who wanted to build a United Nations centre in the territory was convicted on Thursday of paying more than US$1.7 million in bribes to UN ambassadors to get it done.
The verdict was returned after a day of deliberations in Manhattan federal court against Ng Lap-seng, one of China’s richest men. Ng was convicted of bribery, conspiracy and money laundering charges.
Prosecutors presented evidence that Ng from 2010 to 2015 bribed two UN ambassadors, including a UN General Assembly president, paying one US$50,000 monthly at the scheme’s peak to create a centre to serve struggling Southern Hemisphere nations.

Defence lawyers contended the payments were ordinary. But the centre was never built.
Ng looked at jurors as the verdict was announced but otherwise did not display emotion.
US District Judge Vernon S. Broderick tightened Ng’s bail conditions, saying he was now “literally under house arrest,” confined under US$50 million bail to a luxury Manhattan apartment where he has remained for most months under 24-hour guard since his September 2015 arrest.
“He cannot leave that apartment. No ifs, ands or buts about that,” the judge said.
Bribe claims against Chinese billionaire Ng Lap-seng ‘a big zero’, says defence lawyer
No sentencing date was set. Ng, 69, could face up to 65 years in prison.
Ng’s lawyer, Tai Park, did not immediately comment. After the verdict, he told the judge there were multiple avenues for appeal.
“Nothing has changed other than the presumption of innocence is no longer there,” Park said. “We’ve been preparing him for this eventuality.”

In a statement, Acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim said Ng “corrupted the highest levels of the United Nations.”
“Through bribes and no-show jobs, Ng turned leaders of the league of nations into his private band of profiteers,” Kim said.
The verdict was a triumph for prosecutors who navigated thorny legal issues surrounding immunity given to UN diplomats before winning the cooperation of suspended Dominican Republic Ambassador Francis Lorenzo, who pleaded guilty to charges and testified against Ng.
Criminal or hero? Macau billionaire Ng Lap-seng’s UN bribery trial begins with duelling narratives
Lorenzo said Ng initially paid him US$20,000 a month as president of a media organisation before boosting that by US$30,000 a month with instructions to get Ng’s construction company named on official UN documents as the company that would build the Macau centre.
In closing arguments, Assistant US Attorney Janis Echenberg said Ng paid more than US$1.7 million in bribes to build a UN facility as big as New York’s, to create the “Geneva of Asia.” She said Ng “corrupted the United Nations.”

“Brick by brick, bribe by bribe, the defendant built the path that he thought would build his legacy,” she said.
In closing, Park derided the prosecution as “frankly outrageous.”
“It falls by its own weight,” he said. “It’s a big zero.”
He blamed the ambassadors — former UN General Assembly President John Ashe and Lorenzo — for manipulating Ng.
“Mr Ng literally threw his money in every direction he was asked,” Park said.
Ashe, who was arrested in the case but was not charged with bribery, died last year in an accident at his home.


Macau billionaire Ng Lap-seng is convicted of bribery and laundering in UN corruption case

Ng Lap-seng, centre, leaves a federal court in Manhattan on Thursday after being convicted of bribery, money laundering and conspiracy. Photo: AP

In this Wednesday, July 19, 2017 photo, suspended Dominican Republic diplomat Francis Lorenzo leaves Manhattan federal court in New York, after giving a week of testimony in the United Nations bribery trial of Chinese billionaire Ng Lap Seng. Ng has pleaded not guilty to charges that he paid bribes to Lorenzo and a former top U.N. official to try to win support to build a U.N. conference center in China. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)

FILE PHOTO: 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

In this Oct. 26, 2015, file photo, Chinese billionaire Ng Lap Seng, left, leaves federal court with his attorney Ben Brafman after he was released on bail in connection with a U.N. bribery scheme in New York. Assistant U.S. Attorney Janis Echenberg told a jury during his trial's closing arguments Tuesday, July 25, 2017, that Ng wanted to build a center in Macau that would rival U.N. headquarters in New York in size. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

Ng Lap-seng, centre, leaves a federal court in Manhattan on Thursday after being convicted of briber, money laundering and conspiracy. Photo: AP

Criminal or hero? Macau billionaire Ng Lap-seng’s UN bribery trial begins with duelling narratives

In this October 26, 2015, file photo, Macau billionaire Ng Lap-seng, centre, leaves federal court with his attorney Benjamin Brafman, right, after he was released on bail in connection with a United Nations bribery scheme in New York. Photo: AP

FILE PHOTO - Macau real estate developer Ng Lap Seng, accused of bribing former United Nations General Assembly president John Ashe, exiting U.S Federal Court in New York, New York U.S., June 27, 2016. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

Diplomat pleads guilty in UN bribery scheme linked to Macau billionaire Ng Lap-seng

Francis Lorenzo, former deputy UN ambassador from the Dominican Republic, exits the US District Courthouse in New York after pleading guilty on Wednesday to charges that he participated in a scheme to bribe a former UN General Assembly president. Photo: Reuters

Ng Lap Seng (C), a Macau billionaire real estate developer, exits the Manhattan U.S. District Courthouse with his attorney Benjamin Brafman (R) in New York October 26, 2015. Prosecutors said Ng used intermediaries to pay John Ashe, a former United Nations General Assembly president and U.N. ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda, more than $500,000 to seek U.N. support of a U.N.-sponsored conference center in the Chinese territory. Ng pleaded not guilty on October 22, 2015 to charges including bribery and money laundering. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

US says Macau billionaire Ng Lap-seng hoped UN bribery would cement his legacy

In this October 26, 2015, file photo, Macau billionaire Ng Lap-seng, left, leaves federal court with his attorney Ben Brafman after he was released on bail in connection with an alleged UN bribery scheme in New York. Photo: AP

In this Wednesday, July 19, 2017 photo, suspended Dominican Republic diplomat Francis Lorenzo leaves Manhattan federal court in New York, after giving over a week's worth of testimony in the United Nations bribery trial of Chinese billionaire Ng Lap Seng. Prosecutors say Ng paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to clear the way to build a massive United Nations conference center in Macau. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)

Macau billionaire Ng Lap-seng bribery case: Second suspect pleads guilty in New York case

Sheri Yan, CEO of Global Sustainability Foundation, left, leaves federal court in New York Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016, after she plead guilty in connection with a scheme to bribe ex-UN General Assembly President John Ashe. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

Global Sustainability Foundation CEO Sheri Yan (left) leaves federal court in New York. Photo: AP

Billionaire property tycoon Ng Lap-seng wants to clear name and return home, says lawyer

Ng Lap-seng (centre)

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Ng is put under strict house arrest pending sentencing, after being convicted of paying US$1.7m in bribes to get a UN facility built in Macau


Update | Macau billionaire Ng Lap-seng is convicted of bribery and laundering in UN corruption case

Ng is put under strict house arrest pending sentencing, after being convicted of paying US$1.7m in bribes to get a UN facility built in Macau