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UN Weasels In A Time Of War on Ukraine Amid MH17 Failure and Jho Low Cash Kept By Big Tony

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell Book
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPNReview

LITERARY UN GATE / GUTTERS -- In Brooklyn's Cadman Plaza, outside the EDNY courthouse where Malaysian Roger Ng was on trial in place of the fugitive Jho Low, Kurt Wheelock met a lone Malaysian protester with a hand-written sign, "We want our money back."

   Kurt asked to interview him on flip-phone video but the guy said he'd rather start off-camera. So they did. It soon emerged that the guy was serious. He wanted to track down what Jho Low had done with the money stolen from the Malaysia people.

  Not just the Wolf of Wall Street film, whose rights had been seized by the US Justice Department, and the huge catering and "models" bills in Las Vegas which would never be recouped. But where was the rest of it?

  Kurt from his prior journalistic beat, cut off so abruptly by ouster and ban by UNSG Antonio Guterres' guards, had some knowledge.

  Jho Low had loudly "saved" a UN-affiliated news service, and given other money resulting in a press conference the UN let him have in its Palais in Geneva, like it let pedophile Ghislaine Maxwell have one Kurt had attended in the Glass House in New York. But how to track the money?

   The UN had instituted a ban on Kurt entering any of its premises worldwide, even virtually by WebEx. (He's someone gotten into a virtual press conference by the UN's oft-raping mission in Mali, and the spokesperson there had belated answered his question by email, but after that, no more. UNOV in Vienna had told him, We are unable to let you in.)

  But Michael Randall Long had yet to be put on the UN's blacklist. So Kurt took the Malaysian, who'd belatedly given Kurt his name, Farish Chong, to Long's office, over the Ali Baba fruit stand across from the SDNY courthouse.

Kurt went back to work at the PACER terminal in the 500 Pearl press room, so that Long could either sign or not sign up the Malaysian as a client. Once that was done, either way, the three of them could talk together.

    Long texted Kurt just after 5 pm, just before Kurt head over to the SDNY Magistrates Court. "We've signed a retainer, total contingency. We're both still here if you can come over." To Kurt it was a no-brainer, to pursue a case that could lead him back to the UN, versus what would probably be another crack selling Violation of Supervised Release tale of woe in the Mag Court. Kurt headed out onto Worth Street, past the playground and the ping-pong players and up the wooden stairs by the fruit stand to Michael Long's office.

* * *

   While Michael Randall Long and his new client Farish Chong headed up to the UN to try to track down the Malaysia money the UN took and stole, Kurt headed back to EDNY for the cross examination of Tim Leissner.

   Roger Ng's lawyer hammered away, about how many times Leissner lied. To FBI agents who arrested him, to Kimora Lee Simmons Leissner, to religion itself. Leissner had converted to Islam - twice, as it happened - and it had been in search of romance.

  But you lie to the ones you love - right? he was asked.

 I do not know how to answer that Sir, Leissner replied. He had prepared for this. But it was not going well.

* * *

     Martin Randall Long had an idea how to get into the UN. After a few calls to soften things up, or at least set up landline numbers inside he'd be able to tell the UN guards to call to verify who he was -- this while Kurt heard Goldman Sachs' Leissner grilled about photo-shopping documents as part of his scams -- he and the Malaysian appeared at the UN gate.

   We are hear to speak with Mr. de Souza, Long announced, naming Antonio Guterres long time Lusophone consigliere most recently seen next to Big Tony at the failed UN sit-down in the Security Council.

  A UN guard in a white shirt came to front. It was Sullivan, who while previously on UN time told UN branded glow in the dark sneakers with a NFL concussion huckster and was now rehabilitated, with Kurt out of the way. Out of sight out of mind.

   If you say so, Sullivan snarked. I'll have to call upstairs.

   Tell him that I have with me a Malaysian client, whose name I will not yet give, with information about MH Seventeen, the plane the Russian separatists shot down. Mr. Guterres could use the info to get the Russians to stop insulting him.

  The Russians could have blocked Guterres I or at least Guterres II. That they didn't showed out lax their New York diplomacy had gotten. They'd thought that because Guterres full throatedly supported the Chinese dictators he'd stick with Putin even when there was more money on the other side of the table. They had mis-read Big Tony. This was why twelve diplomats should be packing up to leave, not the US theater.

  Sullivan called de Souza. After a time Long and the Malaysian were told to come in and wait in the black and white checker board lobby. There was not yet an Iranian carpet portrait of Guterres up but Long could picture it already, with the double chin and face spots photoshopped out a la Tim Leissner.

   De Sousa's factotum, limping slightly, came toward them. "Mister de Souza will see you in his office. He is fully committed to getting to the bottom of MH-17."

  "I'm sure he is," Long replied. "It's information he and his boss can use."

  "We heard you," the factotum said sternly. "Loud and clear."

* * *

   On the UN's 38th floor Michael Randall Long and his client were taken to the left, straight into the office of Antonio Guterres, looking out over Queens and Long Island. Guterres was plopped behind a big desk, no computer on it, yelling into a landline.

  De Souza gestured with his head at Long, and Guterres hung up the phone. "I'm told you have information about the shooting down of the Malaysian plane," Guterres said. "Information that ties it to the Kremlin, even to Vladimir himself."

  "My client does," Long replied. "But in exchange the Malaysians need to know what happened to the money Jho Low gave to the UN from 1MDB and how to get it back."

  "I was in Geneva at the time," Guterres said grandly. "That wouldn't be much trouble, as long as we kept it quiet. It's that this Russia information could be very useful right now --"

  De Souza cut in, so it would be him saying it, not his Boss. "Vladimir Putin, Lavrov and their Ambassador here are implying that can retroactively veto the second term --"

  Guterres said, "After we made the deal, the meeting in St Petersburg, given them posts in the UN for their operatives..."

  For once, Long knew something about the UN, having gotten it from Kurt Wheelock who was still obsessed with such things, even though or because banned. "I see the Americans told one of your staff they have to leave," he said.

  "There was no reason to go public with that!" Guterres said bitterly.

   "It's a difficult job," de Souza offered. "Caught between three powers."

   "Two and a half," Guterres corrected him. "The Russians are too big for their britches. Now about this information..."


#TheWeaselOfWallStreet.

  More on Patreon here.


 Kurt had first heard of Jho Low while still in the UN, before he was thrown out. Jho Low appeared at a UN press conference in front of the ubiquitous and now defiled logo. #TheWeaselOfWallStreet, 1st in a new series

Inner City Press is also covering US v. Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan, the self-rapped Crocodile of Wall Street, a story here, song here

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