SDNY COURTHOUSE, June 12 – In a sentencing proceeding declared sealed as soon as it was cover, on June 12 Carlos Alberto Acevedo-Rincon a/k/a Sebastian was ordered freed and deported to Colombia after testifying for the U.S. government about the drug trade including in Venezuela and Haiti.
U.S. District Court for the Soutern District of New York Judge Loretta Preska - misnamed in the removal order as "Leon" Preska - noted that Acevedo-Rincon has already spent 80 months in prison, sentenced him to time served and no supervised release. She signed the removal order, but it seems that the defendant will be put in a facility in Louisiana to wait for months before being flown at taxpayer expense back to Colombia.
Afterward Judge Preska asked if she should seal the transcript, just as the sentencing submission and 5K letter have been sealed. She noted she may have said something during the sentencing that went beyond what is already publicly available. Out of respect, Inner City Press will not quote from what she said.
The Assistant U.S. Attorney, however, who said he did not see any reason to seal the transcript, said during the proceeding that Acevedo-Rincon had helped with information about a corrupt police unit at a Haitian airport. After the sentencing he shook hands with Acevedo-Rincon.
It was a striking proceeding, with Inner City Press the only media in the courtroom. Its respect for Judge Preska is not unrelated: in a UN bribery proceeding in March 2019 Judge Preska asked the Press in open court if the U.S. Attorney's Office had made public its exhibits as it promised. Inner City Press replied about mixed performance, which remains the case.
Back on March 25 Judge Preska sentenced Patrick Ho to 36 months in jail for UN bribery and having "sold weapons enthusiastically," along with a $400,000 fine imposed by Judge Preska.
During his trial, covered every day by Inner City Press which was and is banned from entering the UN amid its reporting linking current UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the scandal through the Gulbenkian Foundation from his he received payments undisclosed on his public financial form covering 2016, an audio clip was played for the jury, see below.
On May 31, there were sealed filings to the SDNY court in the Ho case, filed in the vault. What might they be? Inner City Press has asked the US about any process or request to transfer Ho. They say he is still in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan:
CHI PING PATRICK HO Age: 69 Sex: Male Located at: New York MCC
Here was the "sealing" notice:
The following transaction was entered on 5/31/2019 at 2:44 PM EDT and filed on 5/30/2019 Case Name: USA v. Ho Case Number: 1:17-cr-00779-LAP Filer: Document Number: 232(No document attached) Docket Text: SEALED DOCUMENT placed in vault. (rz)
Moves are afoot in the pro-China leadership of Hong Kong to spring Ho free from U.S. prison - a request it would seem Guterres and his UN would support, if only quietly. (In the interim Guterres visited China and didn't to Xi raise the Uighurs, much less China's repeated bribery in his UN.) Hong Kong New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee urged Chief Executive Carrie Lam to file a request to the United States to transfer Ho to Hong Kong to serve the remainder of his sentence. "According to my understanding, if the three sides - namely Hong Kong, the United States and Ho - agree, he can be transferred to Hong Kong or sent to a hospital, so that he won't suffer that much," Ip said. Lam said she would consider Ip's suggestion. "I will ask the Secretary for Security [John Lee Ka-chiu] to study the arrangement with the United States and our legal basis, whether it's us or the person involved who should make the request," Lam said. And if the UN supports, who would oppose this as it should be opposed? We'll have more on this.
In the audio clip, Ho discusses offering bribes to now deceased UN President of the General Assembly John Ashe, with Sheri Yan. Inner City Press is today uploading that audio, here.
Yan pled guilty to bribing Ashe as part of the Ng Lap Seng UN bribery trial, which Inner City Press asked covered daily before it was roughed up and banned from the UN by Guterres. But now Yan in a prison novel and craven revisionist profile by Kirsty Needham, China correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, is claiming: "A related UN bribery investigation involving Ashe netted another conviction in March, with former Hong Kong politician Patrick Ho sentenced to three years. Yan says she met Ho at a conference in Hong Kong she attended as chief executive of Ashe’s Global Sustainability Foundation. They later attended a public dinner in New York. They have “politely” spoken a few times. “I did meet him – that is all. "To say I am working with him to influence the UN is a very wrong statement.'" Apparently The Age has not heard the extended audio of Yan and Ho discussing quid pro quo bribery of Ashe. SMH - shaking my head. We'll have more on this.
Back on March 25, Inner City Press asked Patrick Ho's defense lawyer Edward Y. Kim if he will appeal. We are considering our options, Kim said. Post-sentencing Periscope video here.
Inner City Press immediately emailed a question to the UN and Guterres and his spokesmen on March 25, and on March 26, and on March 27, this: "March 27-3: On UN bribery, on March 25 Patrick Ho of the China Energy Fund Committee was sentenced to 36 months in prison and a $400,000 fine for his UN bribery; in today's proceeding Ho was described as using a UN NGO to "sell weapons enthusiastically." What now is SG Antonio Guterres' comment and action? Will he now begin an audit of CEFC in the UN? What is the SG's comment and response to this 22 minute documentary about Patrick Ho and CEFC's bribes through the UN including Mr. Guterres' refusal to answer Inner City Press' question on it on 5 December 2018 at Min 17. Again, the sentencing memorandum includes quotes from his e-mails regarding aiming to violate sanctions and deal in arms not only to Chad but also South Sudan, Libya & Qatar. What is the SG's comment and action? Again, why has no audit even been begun of CEFC, at least like the one Mr. Guterres' predecessor did of Ng Lap Seng's Sun Kian Ip Foundation? Why did Mr Guterres omit payments from Gulbenkian Foundation, which sought to sell its oil company Partex to CEFC China Energy, from his public financial disclosure covering 2016? Where are the more recent public financial disclosures - has Mr. Guterres ended that program? Why?"
On March 28 this came in from the UN and we publish it in full: "On your question March 27-3, we can say that the Organization takes note of the sentencing of Mr. Chi Ping Patrick Ho to 36 months’ imprisonment and a US$400,000 fine. The UN has cooperated extensively in this matter by making thousands of pages of documents available and providing access to its personnel." What about an audit? Why hasn't Guterres disclosed his own financial links? We'll have more on this, and on his and the UN's censorship.
During the sentencing proceeding it was said that Ho had, in the MCC, mentored another inmate sentenced by Preska. (The odds of that need to be calculated.) The MCC bought Ho a violin; Richenthal said Ho had hidden and liquidated a Swiss bank account while incarcerated. While no Supervised Release was ordered, with the understanding that Ho will be removed from the U.S. once his sentence is up, it has emerged that Ho's passport has expired and has not been renewed. We'll have more on this.
While UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was refusing throughout 2018 to begin any UN audit into China Energy Fund Committee, implicated in the UN bribery prosecution US v Patrick Ho, Guterres had a secret: his role on the board of Gulbenkian Foundation which was trying to sell its Partex Oil affiliate to CEFC. See Inner City Press' first exclusive report here.
Now later of March 25 Ho is set to be sentenced by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Preska. In the run up, RTHK Television in Hong Kong has broadcast a 21 minute documentary, complete with Guterres refusing to answer Inner City Press' questions about the verdict, here at Minute 17. With 300,000 views in Chinese, it is set to be re-released in English after the sentencing.
While Guterres continues to ban from entry the Press which asked him about his CEFC links, now in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York the sentencing of Patrick Ho, long set for March 14, has been pushed back to March 25. Now the government has filed its sentencing submission, asking for at east five years imprisonment and a fine of $400,000. It notes Ho's own emails saying that it is the Belt and Road Initiative that is up for sentencing / implicated: " In one email, for example, he stated: “Please tell SH [i.e., Shanghai, the headquarters of CEFC China] that we need solidarity most at this time, and cannot be divided. . . . Please tell SH, if we are on the same line, with their support, I will fight to the very end. For it is not only HO who is on trial, it is [CEFC NGO], the Company, Country and Chinese values are on trial.” And in a phone call, he stated that “they,” apparently referring to the Government, are using him to get to the “big tiger,” and to discredit “The Belt and Road,” an initiative of the Chinese government." But it is the UN too, so corrupted under Guterres there has yet to be an audit of CEFC in the UN, its business with other PGAs and UN officials, its invitation to Peter Thomson and others - and its attempt to buy the oil company of Gulbenkian Foundation which paid money to Guterres. Here from the sentencing submission is an indication of whom and what these UN officials do business with: " the defendant sent his assistant an email stating, “I am going to BJ [i.e., Beijing] this Friday to see [the Chairman of CEFC NGO and CEFC China] on Sat afternoon. The documents I want to send him before hand in separate items are: . . . 7. Iranian connection (brief).”7 Other items in the numbered list included “[a] few PR items in the US with photo of PGA Kutesa,” “Chad President Report (brief),” “Croatia Oil company,” “PAZ Oil company,” and “Husky Oil team (Canada).” On the same date, the defendant sent his assistant another email, attaching a document, which stated, in pertinent part: 7) Iranian Connection . . . Iran has money in a Bank in china which is under sanction. Iran wishes to purchase precious metal with this money. The precious metal is available through a Bank in HK which cannot accept money from the Bank in China which holds the money but is under sanction. The Iranian agent is looking for a Chinese company acting as a middle man in such transactions and will pay commission. (details to be presented orally) The Iranian connection has strong urge to establish trading relationship with us in oil and products . . . . The following year, in June 2015, the defendant received an email that stated, in pertinent part: “The Iranian team will arrive in BJ . . . . See the attached.” The attachment referenced in the email was a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Presentation to Potential Partners Iran Petroleum Investments'"... an individual sent the defendant an email, stating, “I have the list and end user agreement. Pls advise next step.” On the same day, the defendant replied, in pertinent part, “Find a way to pass them onto me and we can execute that right away[].” The individual replied, “Attached. [W]e have the funding and processing mechanisms in place. If it works nice there will be much more. Also for S. Sudan.” The attachment to this email was a document entitled “End User Certificate,” certifying that the user of the goods in question would be the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Libya. The goods listed on the document included numerous arms, including “mortar rounds,” “ammunition,” “anti-tank . . . launcher,” “rocket launchers,” and “grenade launchers.” The following month, the defendant sent an email that stated in pertinent part: “It so turns out Qatar also needs urgently a list of toys from us. But for the same reason we had for Libya, we cannot sell directly to them. Is there a way you could act as an intermediary in both cases?” The person whom the defendant emailed replied: “Qatar good chance bc there is no embargo. Libya is another case bc going against an embargo is tricky.” The defendant responded: “Qatar needs new toys quite urgently. Their chief is coming to China and we hope to give them a piece of good news. Please confirm soonest.” Weapons, new toys for Qatar, the offer of weapons to Chad for oil - all through the UN, unaudited by SG Guterres with his own conflict of interest and financial connection to CEFC. We'll have more on this. Ho filed a more than one hundred page sentencing submission, the memo accompanying which says "Beginning in 2013, the CEFC Think Tank also held annual symposia at the United Nations (“UN”) devoted to issues raised at the most recent annual political convention in China. In addition, the CEFC Think Tank, in consultation with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (“UN-DESA”), established and funded the “Powering the Future We Want” grant—an annual $1 million award for a promising sustainable energy project (the “Energy Grant”). The CEFC Think Tank donated approximately $2 million to the UN every year to fund the prize and its administration." And yet Guterres has never audited this, choosing instead to rough up and ban the Press which asked him why he wouldn't audit (the answer seems to be Guterres' paid position with the Gulbenkian Foundation which tried to sell its oil company to CEFC). Ho's sentencing submission index lists Frederick Tschernutter and former Shell Oil CEO John D. Hofmeister. UNSG Antonio Guterres, of course, has refused to audit Ho's CEFC's activities in the amid his conflict of interest and censorship. In the UN Committee on Non Governmental Organizations on January 21 the US belatedly requested the suspension or dis-accreditation of CEFC from the UN. This is what Guterres has refused to act on for more than a year, while concealing his links to the group. CEFC was given until Friday, January 25 to answer on the issues. The acting chief of the UN NGO branch on Friday afternoon said it had not responded. Pakistan and Russia raised questions if this meant that as a matter of precedent it should have its status withdrawn. On January 28 following a written inquiry by Inner City Press a self-described diplomat on the NGO committee confirmed that "the NGO Committee recommended that ECOSOC consultative status be withdrawn for CEFC. ECOSOC will decide whether to approve the NGO Committee’s recommendation at its June 2019 ECOSOC management meeting." So they're still in. Guterres' cover up of his link to the group remains unaddressed - with no answers from his spokesmen Stephane Dujarric and for this entire week, Farhan Haq. We'll have more on this.
Inner City Press on the morning of January 21 wrote to Guterres, Alison Smale and their spokesmen: "January 21-1: Please immediately provide the SG's response on the request made this morning in the UN NGO Committee to disaccredit China Energy Fund Committee whose Patrick Ho was indicted and convicted of UN bribery, explain why SG Guterres never even started a OIOS audit of CEFC and why he omitted his paid directorship in Gulbenkian Foundation from his UN Public Financial Disclosure form covering 2016, and on Gulbenkian trying to sell its Partex Oil to CEFC China Energy in 2018." There's been no answer - as there have been no answers from Guterres and Smale and Dujarric for two weeks despite promises to UNSR David Kaye and on camera. And the UN's "meeting summary" omitted even Patrick Ho's name, much less the UNSG Guterres never audited CEFC as it tried to buy Partex Oil from the Gulbenkian Foundation Guterres was a paid board member of while omitting it from his public financial disclosure covering 2016. Here is the entirety of the UN meetings coverage on this: "The representative of the United States, expressing regret that some organizations come to the United Nations to perpetrate fraudulent and illicit activities, said her delegation wrote to the Committee last week requesting that the special consultative status granted in 2011 to the China Energy Fund Committee be withdrawn, after one of its officials was convicted by a United States federal court in November 2018 on corruption, money laundering and conspiracy charges. The Committee must take prompt action, she said, adding that if the organization in question wishes to respond, it should do so before 25 January."
Inner City Press also wrote to three at the US Mission to the UN: "I noticed in the UN NGO Committee this morning that USUN belatedly requested a review of China Energy Fund Committee, whose Patrick Ho was indicted for UN bribery, FCPA and money laundering in 2017, convicted in 2018. This is a Press request for a copy of the USUN statement read out in the NGO Committee, for the materials reference there in and distributed to Committee members, and for the Mission's / Amb Cohen's and Amb. Currie's comment on it, why it took so long, and on UNSG Antonio Guterres having not disclosed his paid directorship of Gulbenkian Foundation in his UN Public Financial Disclosure form covering 2016 and refusal to start any OIOS audit of CEFC, which was trying to buy Partex Oil and Gas from Gulbenkian in 2018. Also, on Guterres and Alison Smale's ongoing ban on US-based investigative Inner City Press even entering the UN, without hearing or appeal, see 2 January 2019 Kaska-eque denial of accreditation
