[JURIST] Former UN General Assembly [official website] president John Ashe, who was under corruption investigation by US authorities, died on Thursday after suffering neck trauma. Ashe’s death [Guardian report], “traumatic asphyxia,” was the result of a weightlifting accident in which he dropped a barbell on his neck. While Ashe had only been charged with tax fraud to this point, prosecutors were planning to bring a new charge against him, despite possible diplomatic immunity to bribery accusations. Cases still remain against Ng and Jeff Yin, his assistant, who are claimed to have helped bribe Ashe. Ashe had served as president from 2013 to 2014.

Ashe was charged [JURIST report] for allegedly taking part in a scheme to receive $1.3 million in bribes to conduct official actions supporting Chinese business interests. Deputy UN Ambassador for the Dominican Republic Francis Lorenzo and three other defendants were also charged [press release]. The Attorney’s Office believes Ashe has been accepting bribes since 2011 facilitated by Lorenzo. According to the complaint, Lorenzo approached Ashe in 2010 to take part in the scheme. Lorenzo invited Ashe to Macau, China, to meet one of the other defendants, Ng Lap Seng, who was seeking support for a UN Macau Conference Center. In exchange for submitting reports to the UN in support conference center, Ashe allegedly began soliciting money from Ng. Lorenzo also hired Ashe’s wife to be a “climate change consultant” in his non-governmental organization. According to the US Attorney, Ashe also solicited other businessmen who wanted to invest with Antiguan government officials. He allegedly failed to report this income in his 2013 and 2014 income tax returns.