John Ashe
 John Ashe    | ||||||||||||
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 John Ashe shakes hands with Hillary Clinton | ||||||||||||
| Born | 1954-08-20 St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda | |||||||||||
| Died | 2016-06-22 (Age 61) Dobbs Ferry, New York, U.S. | |||||||||||
Cause of death | "heart attack, barbell accident" | |||||||||||
| Nationality | Antiguan | |||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania, Technical Univ. of Nova Scotia, Saint Mary's University | |||||||||||
| Victim of | Premature death | |||||||||||
Former Chairman of the UN GA who died a conveniently timed and unusual death before he was due to testify in court.
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John Ashe, a former President of the United Nations General Assembly, died suddenly in unusual circumstances 5 days before he could testify in court.[1]
Criminal prosecution
At the time of his death, Ashe had only been charged with tax fraud in connection with the bribes, amid questions about whether diplomatic immunity might preclude any bribery charges. Ashe was accused of receiving at least $500,000 in bribes to use his official position to obtain for Ng Lap Seng potentially lucrative investments in Antigua, according to a criminal complaint charging Ng.[2]
Death
His death was initially reported as a "heart attack" by the UN but later reported as a fatal barbell accident. His lawyer Jeremy Schneider reported stated that he was sure Ashe's death was a genuine accident. “There is not one iota of evidence that it was homicide. This is nothing at all like Vince Foster.”[1]
Some internet commentators have suggested that his unexpected death may not in fact have been accidental[1] and an anonymous source claimed that prosecutors had intended to use the fact that Ng had funneled money to the DNC during Bill Clinton’s presidency in an effort to link Ashe directly to Hillary Clinton.[3] Ashe was due in court 5 days later with Chinese businessman co-defendant Ng Lap Seng, who is charged with smuggling $4.5 million into the US since 2013 and lying that it was to buy art and casino chips.[1]
