US prosecutors link Chinese officials to UN bribery case against Macau billionaire Ng Lap Seng

A US prosecutor said on Monday that Chinese officials were involved in developing a United Nations-focused news outlet that was used to funnel bribes from a Macau billionaire to a former UN General Assembly president who died last week.

Assistant US Attorney Daniel Richenthal made that claim at a hearing in Manhattan federal court as he contended that a defence lawyer’s prior work for the Chinese government may create a potential conflict in representing the real estate mogul, Ng Lap Seng.

Richenthal said evidence showed that Chinese officials were involved in talks with Ng about developing a UN-sponsored conference centre for which Ng had bribed former General Assembly President John Ashe to gain his support.

He said Chinese officials were also involved in developing South-South News, which publishes articles related to the UN and development issues. Prosecutors said Ng funded the news outlet and used it as a conduit in the bribery scheme.

The officials’ involvement, Richenthal said, included discussing what agenda could be advanced at South-South News.

“It’s not just the conference centre,” Richenthal said. “It’s bigger.”

In court, Tai Park, a lawyer for Ng, called the claim “interesting,” but said it did not mean another of Ng’s attorneys, Hugh Mo, had a conflict. The issue is expected to be discussed again at a hearing next month.