New York, NY (TDN)
Update John Ashe apparently died from a weightlifting accident in his home when a barbell he was lifting from a bench dropped on his neck, an autopsy performed on Thursday revealed. Dr. Kunjlata Ashar, Westchester County's medical examiner, said the cause of death — traumatic asphyxia — was determined during an autopsy.
Police later said it was an accident based on a combination of information from the autopsy and their own investigation.
John Ashe, a former United Nations General Assembly president who was scheduled to appear in a New York court on Monday June 27, 2016 on bribery charges, died on Wednesday.
U.S. prosecutors had arrested Ashe on charges that he took $1.3 million (£877,490) in bribes from Chinese businessman Ng Lap Seng who has also been arrested and is awaiting a court trial.
The former Antigua U.N. ambassador who served as General Assembly president from 2013 to 2014, died in what was previously described as a massive heart attack, before the autopsy was conducted. He was 61.
Prosecutors also said that Ashe took more than $800,000 in bribes from various Chinese businessmen to support business deals in Antigua, and shared the bribe money with a former prime minister of Antigua.
Ashe was also provided with a vacation in an $850-a-night suite in New Orleans, a $30,000 basketball court in his home, $59,000 in tailored clothing, $54,000 in Rolexes, $40,000 in BMW payments and $69,000 to join a vacation club.
In return he wrote a letter of support to the UN on behalf of Ng who wanted to build a multibillion-dollar U.N. conference center in Macau.
US prosecutors also went after Ashe for reportedly under-reporting his income by more than $1.2 million.
Others indicted in the conspiracy were Jeff Yin, 29; Shiwei Yan, 57; and Francis Lorenzo, 48, a Dominican Republic ambassador to the UN. Yan and Lorenzo have both pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
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