Ban Ki-moon's brother and nephew indicted in bribe scheme

By 신용배

Published : Jan. 11, 2017 - 09:26

NEW YORK (AP) -- Federal prosecutors in New York have charged two relatives of former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with plotting to bribe a Middle East official to influence the $800 million sale of a building complex in Vietnam.

The relatives were named in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court Tuesday. One of those charged was identified as Manhattan commercial real estate broker Joo-hyun Bahn, Ban's nephew. He also is known as Dennis Bahn and was released on $250,000 bail.

Korean companies operating in Hanoi, Vietnam

Defense lawyer Julia Gatto says her client was cooperative after his arrest.

Bahn's father, Ban Ki-sang, also was charged but hasn't been arrested.

The indictment says the pair plotted to induce a foreign official to try to persuade his country's sovereign wealth fund to rescue the real estate deal.