Ex-United Nations President, Four Others Charged With Major Bribery

John Ashe walks at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial after paying flower tribute at Rajghat in New Delhi in this March 21, 2014 file photo. Reuters/Adnan Abidi/Files

[From article]

U.S. authorities charged a former president of the United Nations General Assembly, a billionaire Macau real estate developer and four others on Tuesday for engaging in a wide-ranging corruption scheme.
John Ashe, a former U.N. ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda who was general assembly president from 2013 to 2014, was accused in a complaint filed in federal court in New York of taking more than $1.3 million in bribes from Chinese businessmen, including developer Ng Lap Seng.
[. . .]

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is "shocked and deeply troubled" by the allegations, said his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. The U.N. had not previously been informed of the probe, Dujarric said, but would cooperate if contacted.
The case followed the Sept. 19 arrest of Ng, 68, and an assistant, Jeff Yin, 29, for falsely claiming that $4.5 million they brought into the United States from China from 2013 to 2015 was meant for gambling or buying art, antiques or real estate.
[. . .]


David Ng (Ng Lap Seng), Chairman of the Sun Kian IP Group Foundation sits at the High-level Multi-Stakeholder Strategy Forum in Macau, China in this handout photo taken on August 25, 2015, provided by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation. 
Reuters/United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation/Handout via Reuters

According to the complaint, Ng, through intermediaries, paid Ashe more than $500,000 for telling the U.N. secretary general that a yet-to-be built multibillion-dollar U.N.-sponsored conference center in Macau was needed.
[. . .]

The unnamed non-profit matches the description of the Global Sustainability Foundation. And while the complaint did not name the prime minister, Baldwin Spencer held the post at the time.
The foundation and Antigua and Barbuda's mission to the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment. Spencer could not be reached.
The complaint said Ashe solicited bribes in various forms, including payments to cover a family vacation to New Orleans and the construction of a $30,000 basketball court at his house in Dobbs Ferry, New York, the complaint said.
From 2012 to 2014, more than $3 million from foreign governments and individuals was deposited in bank accounts controlled by Ashe, who spent the money on his mortgage, BMW lease payments and Rolex watches, the complaint said.
The complaint only charged Ashe with tax offenses, which it said are not covered by any diplomatic immunity he enjoys.

[. . .]
Ng's name previously surfaced in U.S. investigations into how foreign money might have been funneled into the Democratic National Committee before the 1996 elections, when it was working to re-elect President Bill Clinton.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/06/us-usa-crime-macau-idUSKCN0S01CG20151006

Tue Oct 6, 2015 2:31pm EDT
Ex-U.N. General Assembly president, five others charged in U.S. in bribe scheme
NEW YORK
BY NATE RAYMOND AND JOSEPH AX

Updated: Guatemala's Congress Votes 132-0 to Remove Immunity From Their President, Who Resigns Facing Arrest

Posted September 2, 2015 9:24 PM ET; Last updated September 3, 2015 9:11 PM ET



Even if the United Nations investigated the White House today, there is no will in the Congress to prosecute the President of the US. They fear being called racists, haters. No spines among elected officials. Is that why Donald Trump is popular? 

[From article]
Guatemalan President Otto Perez on Thursday said he was resigning, after Congress stripped him of immunity over corruption allegations and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
The embattled conservative leader, in power since 2012, took the decision to step down to confront "individually the proceedings against him," his spokesman Jorge Ortega said, hours after the arrest warrant was issued.
A judge issued the arrest warrant Wednesday for Mr Perez, who faces prosecution for allegedly masterminding a huge fraud scheme.
[. . .]
Under Guatemalan law, Mr Perez will be automatically removed from office if remanded in custody by a criminal court.
Guatemala's attorney general also said Wednesday she is confident embattled Mr Perez will be convicted of corruption, as the country's top court rejected his challenge to prosecutors' moves to try him.
[. . .]
Mr Perez is the first president in the Central American country's history to be stripped of his immunity, a decision that caused exasperated Guatemalans to burst into celebration Tuesday night after months of unprecedented protests.
A judge subsequently barred the 64-year-old retired general from leaving the country.
[. . .]
The scandal, which has already felled his former vice president and a string of top officials, comes as Guatemala prepares for elections Sunday to choose his successor.
Mr Perez, in power since 2012, is constitutionally barred from running for re-election. His term ends on January 14.
The president has been left increasingly isolated by the scandal.
Six of his 14 ministers have resigned in recent days, along with several other top officials.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/679644/arrest-warrant-issued-for-guatemala-president

Guatemalan president facing arrest resigns
3 Sep 2015 at 14:53
AFP
* * *

[From article]
Guatemala’s Congress voted on Tuesday to strip President Otto Pérez Molina of his immunity from prosecution, a unanimous decision that acknowledged the outpouring of citizen demands for an end to entrenched impunity.
The 132-0 vote was the culmination of a tumultuous five months since prosecutors revealed the existence of a customs fraud ring in April, describing how officials received bribes in exchange for discounted tariffs, a scheme that effectively stole millions from the treasury.
[. . .]
The case ignited a flood of protest from ordinary Guatemalans, who began staging weekly protests in Guatemala City’s central plaza, demanding the president’s resignation, although he had yet to be linked directly to the scheme.
But it was not until Aug. 21, when prosecutors announced that their evidence pointed to Mr. Pérez Molina as one of the scheme’s ringleaders, that Guatemala’s elite joined the calls for Mr. Pérez Molina to step down.
[. . .]
But removing the president’s immunity has enormous symbolism in a country long divided by class and race and where impunity for the powerful was the rule in a system fueled by corruption.
“It sends a very powerful message both to Guatemalans and to other countries in the region,”
[. . .]
The case against Mr. Pérez Molina, which forced the resignation of his vice president, Roxana Baldetti, in May, was brought by a United Nations-backed commission of independent prosecutors that has been working alongside the Guatemalan attorney general’s office for almost a decade. The commission has brought down a series of corrupt officials, developing complex cases using wiretaps and other evidence.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/world/americas/guatemala-votes-to-strip-its-president-of-immunity.html

President Otto Pérez Molina Is Stripped of Immunity in Guatemala
By ELISABETH MALKIN and AZAM AHMED

SEPT. 1, 2015

White House Issues Executive Order Granting Immunity For Contractors Who Expose Others To Ebola.

[From article]
President Barack Obama issued a memorandum Thursday protects federal contractors hired to address the Ebola outbreak in West Africa against lawsuits for importing Ebola into the United States.
The president’s directive gives the administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) the authority to indemnify companies from lawsuits related to “contracts performed in Africa in support of USAID's response to the Ebola outbreak in Africa where the contractor, its employees, or subcontractors will have significant exposure to Ebola.”
“This authority may be exercised solely for the purpose of holding harmless and indemnifying contractors with respect to claims, losses, or damage arising out of or resulting from exposure, in the course of performance of the contracts, to Ebola,” the memorandum explained.
CNSNews.com emailed USAID to ask if the president’s directive also protects these companies from claims made by a U.S. citizen who contracts Ebola from an employee who brings the disease back from West Africa after working under a government contract. An unnamed spokesperson for the agency responded: “Yes.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/brittany-m-hughes/obama-immunizes-gov-t-contractors-being-sued-importing-ebola-us

Obama Immunizes Gov’t Contractors From Being Sued for Importing Ebola to US
November 14, 2014 - 10:09 AM
By Brittany M. Hughes

Can't Fire Me!

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=48749

Who wouldn't enjoy firing these people?
by Ann Coulter
01/11/2012
Human Events

Immunity for Cooperation, But If I Don't Want to Tell, I Won't

Tierney's wife has "immunity from prosecution for her cooperation," but, she refuses to explain what her husband, a US Rep., a member of Congress, knew?

[From article]
"The Herald reported yesterday her lawyer, former U.S. Attorney Donald K. Stern, has put prosecutors on notice that she will invoke her federal right not to testify against her husband if questioned about how much he may have known of his in-laws’ alleged criminal ring. [. . .] the government has promised her immunity from prosecution for her cooperation,"

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2011_1117gambler_i_tried_to_pay_off_30g_promoting_co/

Gambler: I tried to pay off $30G promoting co.
By Laurel J. Sweet
Boston Herald
Thursday, November 17, 2011

Why is Congress Slow Bringing Sharia Law?

Egyptians are immune from prosecution in the USA. Can't prosecute except using Sharia law. Or has that not passed the US Congress yet? What is taking them so long? Wasted too much time on health care due to those neanderthal terrorist right wing gun loving Republicans. Why are Republicans allowed to run for office? They just slow the good and the just from being implemented. Who do they think they are? Citizens or something?

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1243796

Staties probe possible threats against juror, lawyer

By Laurel J. Sweet
Boston Herald
Thursday, April 1, 2010

How to Avoid The Flu

How to Avoid The Flu

Eat right!

Make sure you get your daily dose of fruits and veggies.

Take your vitamins and bump up your vitamin C.

Get plenty of exercise because exercise helps build your immune system.

Walk for at least an hour a day, go for a swim, take the stairs instead of the elevator, etc.

Wash your hands often. If you can't wash them, keep a bottle of antibacterial stuff around.

Get lots of fresh air. Open doors & windows whenever possible.

Try to eliminate as much stress from your life as you can.

Get plenty of rest.
OR
Take the doctor's approach.

Think about it...

When you go for a shot,
what do they do first?
They Clean your arm with alcohol...
Why?
Because Alcohol KILLS GERMS.
So......
I walk to the liquor store. (exercise)
I put lime in my Corona ...(fruit)
Celery in my Bloody Mary (veggies)
Drink outdoors on the bar patio..(fresh air)
Tell jokes, laugh....(eliminate stress)
Then pass out. (rest)
The way I see it...
If you keep your alcohol levels up, flu germs can't get you!

My grandmother always said, "A shot in the glass is better than one in the ass!"

Live Well - Laugh Often - Love Much