Executive in U.N. Corruption Case Pleads Guilty

A Chinese-born executive accused of helping to funnel more than $800,000 to a top United Nations official pleaded guilty to bribery on Wednesday, the second guilty plea in a week in the government’s continuing investigation of corruption at the United Nations. The defendant, Shiwei Yan, was charged last fall in a broad graft case that also included defendants like the official, John W. Ashe, an Antiguan diplomat who served for a year as president of the United Nations General Assembly, and Ng Lap Seng, a billionaire real estate developer who is based in Macau. Another defendant, Heidi Hong Piao, pleaded guilty last week to bribery, money laundering and other charges and has agreed to cooperate with the federal investigation, records show. More...