Bail tightened on bribe-case billionaire Ng Lap-seng, after closed-door massages rub US judge the wrong way
Massage therapist was spending up to 10 hours per day in guilty billionaire’s Manhattan flat, treating him in a locked bedroom, as well as cooking meals for armed guards enforcing home detention
A judge tightened security on Monday at the luxury Manhattan flat where Macau billionaire Ng Lap-seng, convicted of bribing United Nations diplomats, will likely live under 24-hour guard until sentencing, after it was revealed he had been getting lengthy visits from a massage therapist in his locked bedroom.
US District Judge Vernon S. Broderick rejected a request by prosecutors to immediately imprison 69-year-old Ng after his conviction over a week ago on bribery and money laundering charges. The charges carry a potential prison term lasting decades, though his actual sentence would be far less.
“It is literally difficult to imagine a defendant with a greater incentive to flee,” said Assistant US Attorney Daniel Richenthal.
On the day of the verdict, Broderick imposed new conditions on Ng’s US$50 million bail package, confining Ng to his US$4 million flat, which will end his nearly daily excursion to a Chinatown restaurant.
At Monday’s hearing, the judge seemed surprised to learn that Ng was receiving massages every other day in his bedroom with the door closed and that the massage therapist remained at the flat for four to 10 hours, cooking meals that were sometimes also served to Ng’s armed guards.
It is literally difficult to imagine a defendant with a greater incentive to flee
