Lawyer seeks speedy trial for billionaire in UN case

NEW YORK — A Chinese billionaire arrested in a United Nations bribery scandal needs a speedy trial because his businesses are being damaged, his lawyer told a judge Thursday.

Attorney Benjamin Brafman demanded an immediate trial for Ng Lap Seng.

Ng, 67, arrested in September, has worn an electronic bracelet and been guarded around-the-clock by private security at a luxury Manhattan apartment since his release over a month ago on $50 million bail.

The real estate developer’s businesses “are starting to suffer substantial setbacks,” Brafman told US District Judge Vernon S. Broderick in Manhattan. “It’s not fair.”

“We’ll proceed to trial as quickly as we can,” the judge responded. “I think there is still some discovery that needs to be produced to your client.”

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Prosecutors said it was likely they would bring additional charges in the case, which so far has resulted in the arrests of Ng, a former president of the UN General Assembly and a Dominican Republic diplomat, along with three others.

In some federal court cases, trials can occur in less than three months. But they more often take months longer to begin, especially in cases involving multiple defendants and thousands of pages of evidence.

Prosecutors said Ng provided much of more than $1 million in bribes that John Ashe, a former UN ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda who served as General Assembly president until a year ago, was accused of accepting in return for promoting a UN conference center in Macau. Ashe’s defense lawyer has said his client will be vindicated.

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Ng was first arrested in September on charges that he failed to properly report cash when he entered the country on private planes. The charges were boosted when he was charged in the UN scandal announced weeks later. Ng has pleaded not guilty.

Broderick told prosecutors to let him know next month when they will be ready for trial.

“We are moving as expeditiously as we can,” said Assistant US Attorney Janis Echenberg.

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