UNITED NATIONS, March 18 – Four months after the arrest for UN bribery of Patrick Ho, the head of China Energy Fund Committee full funded by CEFC China Energy, his ultimate boss at CEFC Ye Jianming was brought in for questioning in China. Then management and day to day operations of CEFC were reportedly taken over by the Shanghai city government's investment arm, Shanghai Guosheng Group Company. At the UN, Inner City Press asked if this meant that its fundee could not longer be in special consultative status to UN ECOSOC; this has not been answered. In fact, as HRW, CPJ and UN official Andrew Gilmour critiqued ECOSOC on March 16, this corruption was not mentioned.
Now Inner City Press makes this connection: the president of ECOSOC is Marie Chatardová, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the UN. Her president, in Prague Castle, is Miloš Zeman -- who, like Uganda's Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa when he was UN President of the General Assembly, made Ye Jianming an official adviser. Tellingly, Zeman has sent two officials to Chinese to inquire into the status or, or help, Ye Jianming: chancellor Vratislav Mynár and economic advisor Martin Nejedlý have flown to Shanghai. Under Ye Jianming, CEFC bought up Czech soccer league champions FK Slavia Praha, two luxury hotels and even a stake in seven regional breweries.
Inner City Press has repeatedly written to the Czech Mission to the UN, to the attention of Marie Chatardová as President of ECOSOC, asking how China Energy Fund Committee given all of the above can remain in special consultative status with ECOSOC. The Mission, like Antonio Guterres' Secretariat's spokesperson for ECOSOC, has refused to answer. As to the Czech Republic, the reason for inaction and stonewalling of the Press may now be clear - alongside Antonio Guterres' Secretariat. We'll have more on this.
Nor was the UN even mentioned in the New York Times' story about CEFC - Kutesa was, but not that he was PGA. This is propaganda. This comes while the UN, embroiled in a second corruption case involving Ng Lap Seng whose assistant Jeffrey Yim was sentenced to seven months in prison on February 28 (Inner City Press coverage here), has yet to even remove CEFC from its "special consultative status" to the UN Economic and Social Council. Now with the Chinese government taking action, for whatever its reason, will the UN belatedly move? Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric on March 1, video here, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: this China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC) case, the head of the whole organization in China has been called in for questioning, Mr. Ye Jianming. And I wanted to know, because it seems like since that indictment in November, China Energy Fund Committee has remained with special consultative status… Spokesman: We've… I've answered that question already. That is an issue… the Member States… a Member State committee grants that special consultative status to the NGO. That Member State committee needs to act if they want to withdraw that status. Inner City Press: António Guterres is the head of the UN system. Does he have… does he have… has he taken note that there are two separate developing UN corruption cases involving briberies taking place at the UN and what’s his response…? Spokesman: We're very much aware of the issue and our legal counsel… our legal office is cooperating on these cases with the national authorities." We'll have more on this claim. Tellingly, Reuters which barely covers the UN corruption cases - in fact, it has a board seat on the UN Correspondents Association which accepted $50,000 from Ng Lap Seng's South South News - "reports" on the question of Ye Jianming and CEFC's business in the Czech Republic, Russia (last year's deal for a 14 percent stake in Rosneft PJSC for $9 billion) and Kazakhstan without even MENTIONING the indictment of Ho of CEFC, and the clear reference to Ye Jianming in the indictment, in connection with Sam Kutesa and the Uganda scheme. We'll have more on this. Ho was denied bail on February 5, in a lengthy oral order that found the weight of evidence against him substantial. On November 20, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York issued an indictment against the head of the UN ECOSOC accredited China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC) Patrick Ho and former Senegal foreign minister Cheikh Gadio,accused together of bribing Chad's President Idriss Deby -- as well as, for Ho, of bribing former UN President of the General Assembly Sam Kutesa, now as then the foreign minister of Uganda, since 2005, allegedly for the benefit of President Yoweri Museveni. On February 5, Inner City Press asked the UN Spokesman why CEFC is still in "special consultative status" with ECOSOC, transcript here (video here) and below, than ran to the courthouse. There, US District Court Judge Katherine Forrest asked Prosecutor Daniel C. Richenthal to describe the weight of the evidence. "How strong is your case?" she asked, to some laughter. Very strong, he said, adding that Ho has been emailing the "Shanghai-based Energy Company" (that would be CEFC China Energy) from MCC detention, to launch a public relations campaign. It may be backfiring: Judge Forrest in her ruling denying bail noted that if Chinese government press is describing the case as political, it would make fleeing and remaining in China all the easier. Richenthal said that Ho could travel to other places - he listed Chad, Uganda, Iran and Russia. The continued home detention of UN bribery convictee was raised by Richenthal and Judge Forrest, and not favorably. Gadio was alluded to as not yet indicted - he'd said to be talking about a plea - and Judge Forrest emphasized November 5 as the trial date. She said there was leave to re-apply for bail but said such an application should include what Ho's lawyer Mr Kim called the "context" of the payments. Kim said they including country-wide charitable and military aid. From a Chinese energy company? From the UN's February 5 transcript: Inner City Press: Patrick Ho, who is the head of the China Energy Fund Committee, is arguing again for bail today. And the US, in opposing it, put it in writing that they've executed a search warrant at China Energy Fund Committee, the NGO's (non-governmental organization) offices in Virginia. It seems the China Energy Fund Committee is still in special consultative status with ECOSOC (Economic and Social Council) even as its offices are being raided and… and its head is in jail. What are the procedures for… for…? Spokesman: As far as I'm aware… you know, the consultative status of ECOSOC, as opposed to the DPI (Department of Public Information) status, is one that is managed by the Member States. There is a committee of ECOSOC that is made up of Member States. They give… they grant or deny consultative status to various NGOs. I think we'll have to look… you can contact ECOSOC to see what the exact rules are, but my assumption would be that, if Member States grant, only Member States can take away." So, Guterres is doing nothing. On February 6, after another non-response by ECOSOC's chair, Inner City Press asked Guterres' and Dujarric's Deputy Farhan Haq, video here, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: yesterday, the… Patrick Ho, the head of the China Energy Fund Committee here, was denied bail. And in the… in the hearing, basically, the prosecution said and the judge said that she found weight to be given to the evidence that basically the NGO [non-governmental organization] was a front for bribery to Sam Kutesa and others. So, given that… how this trial is going, I'm wondering, again, Stéphane [Dujarric] had said that the Secretariat plays no role in sort of following through and making sure that China Energy Fund Committee can't continue to say it's a… in special consultative status with ECOSOC [Economic and Social Council]. I've written to the ECOSOC chair now twice, 28 November 2017 and today, but I don't have anything back. Is there any spokesperson for ECOSOC that can at least say what the process is? Deputy Spokesman: There is a spokesperson for the President of the Economic and Social [Council], and I can give you that contact afterwards. Inner City Press: Because… because Brenden… oh. Yeah. Anyways, I'd written before to that same individual, and there was no response. I'm just… guess I'm wondering, what is their… what is the… does the Secretary-General… given that trial that's now moving forward and what's coming out in it, does he believe in the same way that he has… asserting himself as to agencies on other issues, that he should maybe get involved to ensure that there's not a… a named briber saying that they're in consultative status with the UN? Deputy Spokesman: "Well, UN bodies themselves have been dealing with the problems created by the China Energy Fund Committee in their own ways, but what you're talking about is consultative status that's granted by Member States through the Economic and Social Council, and that decision would have to be taken by Member States." Then Inner City Press emailed the alluded to spokesman, one Paul Simon. Hours later, nothing. In advance of the February 5, the prosecution in writing asserted that "since the Complaint was signed and Ho was arrested, the evidence of his guilt has only become stronger, as the Government has interviewed witnesses, executed search warrants (including for the Virginia office of the Energy NGO), and obtained documents from third parties." Tellingly, this Energy NGO, China Energy Fund Committee, is *still* in special consultative status with the UN's Economic and Social Council - and Guterres met with Uganda's Museveni, who is in the complaint, at the same AU summit where Guterres metSudan's Omar al Bashir, without issuing any read-out.
