Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Brown yesterday pledged cooperation with international investigators and announced a series of actions that will be taken in his country’s Foreign Service after former Antiguan ambassador to the United Nations, John Ashe was charged in a corruption scheme.
“We shall no longer permit Antiguans and Barbudans who are permanent residents of the host country to serve as diplomats. In addition, we shall begin a process of rotation of our Foreign Service officers, so that none of them exceeds a period of more than five years in any posting. Financial audits have been done on a yearly basis by the Auditor-General. However, we shall also carry out routine independent forensic audits of all our overseas missions,” Brown said in an address to the nation, the text of which was made available to Stabroek News.
Last week, US authorities charged Ashe, who is a former president of the UN General Assembly, a billionaire Macau real estate developer and four others for engaging in a wide-ranging corruption scheme. Ashe, 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 US$1.3 million in bribes from Chinese businessmen, including developer Ng Lap Seng.
According to the complaint, Ng, through intermediaries, paid Ashe more than US$500,000 to submit a document telling the UN secretary general that a yet-to-be built multibillion-dollar UN-sponsored conference centre in Macau was needed. The intermediaries included Francis Lorenzo, 48, a deputy UN ambassador from the Dominican Republic who prosecutors said Ng paid US$20,000 monthly as “honorary president” of one of his organizations, South-South News.
The other was Yin, who authorities said after his arrest disclosed that Ng viewed the conference centre as his “legacy” and made payments to get action on it.
Kicked
Ashe, 61, also received more than US$800,000 from Chinese businessmen to support their interests within the UN and Antigua, and kicked some of the money to Antigua’s then-prime minister, who was not named, the complaint said. Baldwin Spencer was the prime minister of Antigua at the time.
The complaint said Ashe solicited bribes in various forms, including payments to cover a New Orleans family vacation and construction for a US$30,000 basketball court at his house in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
From 2012 to 2014, more than US$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, prosecutors said. The complaint only charged Ashe with tax offences, which it said are not covered by any diplomatic immunity he enjoys.
In his address yesterday, Brown said that last week was a terrible week for Antigua and Barbuda and the Ashe scandal has “has cast a pall of gloom over all of us and neighbouring Caribbean countries.” The implication of members of the former United Progressive Party government, including Spencer, in bribery, money laundering and other corruption charges, has also caused great alarm, he said.
“We have all been deeply troubled that our country’s name has become embroiled in allegations of bribery and money laundering, in connection with the most important organisation in the world, the United Nations. It is reprehensible that anyone would violate the sanctity of the United Nations for illicit purposes,” Brown declared.
He pledged that his government will continue to strengthen the structures and machinery of good governance in the country. “Over the last 15 months, we have encountered a residue of corrupt practices from the UPP regime, involving the abuse of public office and organized misappropriation of state resources. We have put an end to those practices and we are continuing to do so wherever they emerge. We intend to have the best and most transparent governance structure in the Caribbean and beyond. My government will not be popular in this respect, but we are determined not only to uphold the principles of good governance but to implement them firmly,” he said.
He announced that changes will be made in the Foreign Service including routine independent forensic audits of all overseas missions.
Instruct
Brown recalled that one of the first actions he took upon becoming Prime Minister in June last year, was to instruct that Ashe be removed as Antigua and Barbuda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. “At the time, I was lobbied by several persons to retain him since, it was argued, he was at the peak of his career. But I held the view, that he did not fit into the framework of good governance and representation that I envisioned,” he said.
According to Brown, he stuck to his position with the only concession being that Ashe was allowed to serve the remaining two months of his term as President of the UN General Assembly.
He said that last week’s events has harmed the efforts that have been made to rebuild the country’s economy and uplift its standing in the international community over the last 15 months.
However, the Prime Minister declared, the damage is neither permanent nor irreversible and those involved will face their accusers in the appropriate courts. He said that the persons, who are responsible and liable, have been named in the complaint brought by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
It is those persons who have a case to answer and who will have to face the consequences of their corrupt actions, he declared.
“And, to the extent that the authorities of the United Nations and the United States request the co-operation of my government in this matter, we shall give such co-operation as a responsible member of the international community. That is our obligation, and it is an obligation we will fulfil,” Brown pledged.
He also pointed out to a statement in the criminal complaint quoting “I know that bribery of a public official is illegal in Antigua under the Prevention of Corruption Act which was enacted by the Antiguan Parliament,” and said it is obvious that the eyes of the international community are focused upon Antigua to see what the country’s law enforcement agencies do, in relation to this matter.
“Should the law enforcement agencies, in their own independent determination – and I emphasize this – in their own independent determination, make a decision to take some form of action – that is their prerogative,” he said.
“I make it clear now, that should they do so, it will be no political witch hunt by my government or the political party that I lead,” he asserted.
“Antigua and Barbuda will not be found wanting or uncooperative in meeting its international obligations. My government will cooperate with the international community in its investigation in this matter. No government or agency will be able to accuse us of not acting responsibly,” Brown declared.
He emphasised that domestically, law enforcement agencies will determine, in their own deliberate judgement, what actions they might take.
