NEW YORK, (Reuters) – The head of a New York-based foundation pleaded guilty yesterday to participating in a scheme to bribe a former U.N. General Assembly president to advance various business interests, becoming the second defendant to admit wrongdoing in the case.
Sheri Yan, who was Global Sustainability Foundation’s chief executive, pleaded guilty in federal court in Manhattan to one count of bribery in connection with illicit payments made to John Ashe, the former General Assembly president.
Choking back tears, Yan admitted that beginning in 2012, she agreed with others to pay money to Ashe, who was also the U.N. ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda, to influence officials in Antigua and the United Nations to support business interests.
“While I was doing these things, I knew that they were wrong,” Yan said through a Mandarin interpreter.
