Ex-Dominican diplomat pleads guilty in UN bribes case

Santo Domingo.- Suspended Dominican diplomat Francis Lorenzo on Thursday pleaded guilty to new charges in connection with a network of bribes within the UN, and who became a State’s witness in a trial set for May against a Chinese billionaire.

Lorenzo filed his guilty plea in federal court and admitted for the first time that he accepted bribes and violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

More than a year ago he pleaded guilty to 6 other charges, although his cooperation wasn’t revealed in open court at that time.

His defense lawyer Brian Bieber said Lorenzo will testify against Ng Lap Seng, who is charged with paying bribes to obtain UN support for the construction of a conference center in Macao. The start of Ng’s trial is scheduled for May 30.

Lorenzo told US district judge Vernon Broderick that he paid bribes to a former UN General Assembly president who held office from 2013 to 2014, as part of an effort to promote conference centers between 2011 and 2015.