Wu Lisheng (middle) walked into the court with his wife after hearing the sentence.(Provided by Dongwang)
Wu Lisheng, a former member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was charged in New York with bribing United Nations officials in an attempt to obtain their support for the construction of a United Nations conference center in Macau. He was convicted last year.On Friday (11th), the Manhattan Federal Court in New York sentenced Wu Lisheng, a Macau real estate businessman, to four years in prison, fined 1 million yuan (US dollars, the same below, 1.33 million Singapore dollars), paid 302,000 yuan in legal fees to the United Nations, and confiscated hisThe assets used in the crime amounted to a similar amount of 1.5 million yuan.
The judge allowed Wu Lisheng to still be released on bail of 50 million yuan, and he was placed under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment for 24 hours until he reported to the prison on July 10; Wu Lisheng's lawyer indicated that he would appeal the sentence.When Wu Lisheng and his wife Pan Nuanhe left the court, Wu Lisheng looked relaxed and kept smiling, but his wife kept frowning.They got into the car and left without answering the reporter's question from Dongwang.com.
Wu Lisheng's wife burst into tears after hearing her husband's sentence in court; Wu Lisheng did not shed tears, but his hands trembled nervously while listening to the sentence.
Before the sentencing, 69-year-old Wu Lisheng pleaded in Cantonese in court, expressing deep regret and being responsible for his actions, saying that he sincerely believed that the Convention Center could benefit Macau.He also pointed out that his wife is 66 years old and has been with him through ups and downs, so he wants to fulfill her husband's responsibilities in her old age, and he also misses his family and grandson very much.
Wu Lisheng also mentioned that after being arrested and convicted, he was constantly being pursued by creditors. Although his sons and daughters are talented, he was worried that they would not be able to handle it because they were not responsible before.Wu Lisheng also said that many employees who have followed him for a long time trust him, so he is afraid that it will affect the livelihood of these employees; and Wu Lisheng spent several hours a day to stabilize his business during his bail.In the end, Wu Lisheng said that the intercession is not only for himself, but also for his family and the company; he deeply regrets the pain his actions have caused his family, friends, and employees, and vows not to repeat the crime, so he hopes to be given a lighter punishment; his only hopeIt is to go home, not to wait until his ashes come home.
The prosecution pointed out in court that Wu Lisheng is very rich and powerful. He knew that what he did would damage the reputation of the United Nations, so the sentence should have a deterrent effect.When the defense interceded, it told about Wu Lisheng's deeds from being very poor to becoming a rich man, and praised him as a caring person who would donate money to the mainland, donate money to build bridges and roads, and was very kind to his family and employees.Wu Lisheng is 69 years old and does not know English, which has also become the reason for the defense.
Wu Lisheng remained under house arrest while awaiting sentencing. In March this year, the prosecutor asked the judge to re-sentence Wu to more than six years in prison and seek a fine of 2 million yuan.The time of detention is the same, so that he can be released in court and return home.When sentencing on Friday, the judge pointed out that he had received many pleading letters from Wu Lisheng's family and friends, and considering his age, he finally sentenced Wu Lisheng to four years in prison.
In July last year, the Manhattan federal court found Wu Lisheng guilty of six counts of bribery, conspiracy and money laundering.Wu Lisheng was arrested in New York in 2015. The prosecution accused him of bribing more than 1.7 million yuan to two representatives to the United Nations from 2010 to 2015 to support his establishment of a United Nations conference center project in Macau.
Ash, the former president of the United Nations General Assembly and Lorenzo, the former deputy representative of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, who were accused of taking bribes in the case, were also prosecuted.Among them, Ash died unexpectedly at home in June 2016 at the age of 61; Lorenzo turned into a tainted witness to testify against Wu Lisheng.Lorenzo confessed that Wu Lisheng gave him up to 50,000 yuan a month to help Wu Lisheng promote the Macau United Nations Conference Center project; Wu Lisheng agreed to let Lorenzo, who has no media experience, be the president of South-South News at the end of 2009.
