Ho’s memo reporting on opportunities opened up by the $1 million payment for Museveni and Kutesa.
Many of his country’s government hospitals lack basic medicines and bodies of dead patients sometimes remain uncollected on beds for days because health workers aren’t paid on time, yet when Uganda’s dictator met two years ago with the Chinese businessman convicted this week for bribing him to the tune of $500,000, he asked for help “to build nuclear power,” according to documents seized by the FBI.
After Chi Ping Patrick Ho met with Gen. Yoweri Museveni in Uganda when he traveled there for the dictator’s May 12, 2016 swearing-in after the disputed presidential reelection, he wrote a memo to CEFC China Energy’s number two executive Zhang Ya, summarizing his discussions with Museveni. The potential investment areas promised CEFC China were in: Energy; Infrastructure; Finance; Agriculture; and, Tourism, according to Ho’s memo. CEFC China is a conglomerate that reported $40 billion in revenue in 2014.
“Energy: still some blocks to be licensed out, refinery contracted to RT Global Resources (Russian) Conglomerates, but they need partners; oil pipe through Tanzania contracted to Total (French) but they also need partner…” Ho wrote on May 15, 2016 at 2:46:04 AM from e-mail address [email protected] to Zhang Ya, at e-mail address [email protected].
Ho continued, “Energy Industrial Park can be given to us (suggest to include real estates, airport, second refinery etc.): other minerals such plutonium; long term wants to build nuclear power: electric grid (transmission power lies worn and have to be replaced).”
Under “Infrastructures” Ho wrote, “…roads, high speed rails (especially between capital Kampala and Hoima oil refinery), airports.”
In the “Finance” category Ho noted in his memo, “…possibility of acquiring Barclay Bank Africa; possibility to introduce RMB based clearing and settlement currency.”
By “Barclay” he was referring to Barclays Bank Africa. RMB is the abbreviation of Renminbi, China’s official currency. As early as 2014, when the Kutesas first started meeting with Ho in New York City when the foreign minister served as President of the U.N. General Assembly (PGA), Edith Kutesa had first proposed the idea of linking the Chinese and Ugandan currencies, according to documents from Ho’s trial.
In his memo to Zhang, with respect to “Agriculture,” Ho wrote, “…cattle: meat products, hides for leather industry, milk products,” and under “Tourism,” he wrote “…rebuild Uganda Airline, agreed to give us a piece of land by the lake, or an island in the lake to develop into a resort area with hotels, shopping centers, casino, recreation parks, and a China-Town; boosting tourism from China.” (Ironically, Uganda Airlines the national carrier was bankrupted in 2000 after Sam Kutesa illegally stripped its most valuable asset baggage handling to create his private company ENHAS).
During Ho’s trial in federal court in Manhattan the jury was shown documents exchanged between Ho and the Kutesas. After Edith Kutesa sent an e-mail message in April 2016, soliciting the $500,000 “donation” Ho asked the Kutesas to first send a list of areas of potential business investments and to arrange for the meeting with Museveni.
On May 6, 2016, $500,000 was wired to a New York branch of HSBC from an HSBC account in Hong Kong whose holder is CEFC China. From New York, on the same date, the money was wired to Stanbic in Uganda to an account whose beneficiary is Food Security and Sustainable Energy Foundation, a fictitious foundation the Kutesas claim to have created, according to U.S. prosecutors.
Before traveling to Uganda Ho advised CEFC’s chairman to make a $500,000 cash “campaign contribution” to Museveni to be delivered at his May 12, 2016 swearing-in, even though the vote was on Feb. 18. Ho then contacted the Kutesas to request for special arrangements with customs officials because he was bringing a “nice gift” for Museveni.
Ho was also convicted for offering Chad’s President Idriss Deby $2 million in cash. The money was delivered in December, 2014 in several boxes wrapped as gifts. For the Chad trip, Ho and his CEFC China delegation traveled by private jet.
For the Uganda trip, according to a May 8, e-mail message from Roger Fong, an CEFC China employee who used the account [email protected], to Edith Kutesa, the delegation traveled in a private Gulf Stream G550 jet, and arrived on May 10, 2016.
“Dear Roger, So happy to hear that you are arriving on the 10th with a possibility to leave on 13th,” Ms. Kutesa wrote back to Fong, on May 10, 2016 from e-mail address [email protected] at 3:05 GMT. “The Minister has managed to have an appointment with the President on the 10th at 3.00 pm We tried to move the appointment to late 10th but it is impossible. On the 11th the Head of states start coming and the President will be busy receiving them. The protocol has informed us that if you can not make it on the 10th afternoon, they can try the 13th morning.”
Ms. Kutesa wrote that six rooms had been booked at the Serena and plans were being made to reserve two more at another nearby hotel. She added: “We have planned a dinner at our home on on (sic) the 10th with some officials, such as the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Mining and Energy, the Deputy Goverror (sic) of Central Bank, the minister of Finance and ourselves.”
