Ex-UN General Assembly Head Among 6 Held in Bribery Scheme

"A former president of the United Nations General Assembly turned the world body into a 'platform for profit' by accepting over $1 million in bribes from a billionaire Chinese real estate mogul and other businesspeople to pave the way for lucrative investments, a prosecutor charged Tuesday.

John Ashe, a former U.N. ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda who served in the largely ceremonial post as head of the 193-nation assembly from September 2013 to September 2014, faces tax fraud charges in what authorities call a conspiracy with five others, including Francis Lorenzo, a deputy U.N. ambassador from the Dominican Republic who lives in the Bronx.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara repeatedly noted that it was early in the investigation and told reporters that as it proceeds: 'We will be asking: Is bribery business as usual at the U.N.?'

He added: 'I wouldn't be surprised if we see other people charged.'...

The scheme unfolded over the course of nearly three years, from 2011 through 2014, prosecutors said...

Prosecutors say some bribe money funded first-class airfare for Ashe, his wife and two children to New Orleans, where they stayed in an $850-a-night hotel room.

Other money, they said, was used to lease a luxury car, pay his home mortgage, buy Rolex watches and custom suits, and construct a $30,000 basketball court at his home in Dobbs Ferry, New York, where he was arrested Tuesday. He opened two bank accounts to receive the funds and then underreported his income by more than $1.2 million, officials said..."