New York foundation's ex-Chief gets 20 months’ prison in U.N bribery case involving the late John Ashe

By Nate Raymond | NEW YORK (Reuters)
 
According to Reuters News Agency in New York, The former head of a New York-based foundation was sentenced on Friday to 20 months in prison for participating in a scheme to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to a former U.N. General Assembly president.
 
Sheri Yan, Global Sustainability Foundation's Former Chief Executive, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Vernon Broderick in Manhattan after pleading guilty in January to passing bribes to John Ashe, the former General Assembly President.
 
Broderick, who also fined her $12,500 and ordered her to forfeit $300,000, said that because of her crimes, "there was substantial damage done to the U.N. itself and the image of the U.N."
 
"There's no question this crime was a serious offense," he said.
 
Yan, 60, is one of seven people who was charged since October in connection with bribes paid to Ashe, a former U.N. ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda who was General Assembly president from 2013 to 2014.
 
Prosecutors said Ashe, who died in June awaiting trial, took over $1.3 million in bribes from Chinese businessmen, including Macau billionaire real estate developer Ng Lap Seng, to promote their interests within the United Nations and Antigua.