潘基文两名亲属遭到贿赂指控

US prosecutors have accused two relatives of Ban Ki-moon, the former UN secretary-general, of a bribery plot linked to Vietnam’s tallest building and a South Korean company embroiled in a corruption scandal.

联合国(UN)前任秘书长潘基文(Ban Ki-moon)的两名亲戚遭到美国检察机关的指控，原因是与越南最高建筑及一家卷入腐败丑闻的韩国企业有关的贿赂情节。

Joo Hyun-bahn, Mr Ban’s nephew, denied the charges and was granted bail at a court hearing in New York after he and his father, Ban Ki-sang, were indicted on Tuesday. Ban Ki-sang, who is Ban Ki-moon’s brother, has not been arrested and could not immediately be reached for comment.

潘基文的侄子潘柱贤（Bahn Joo-hyun，音译）否认了相关指控并在纽约一场法庭听证中被允许保释。此前，他和他的父亲潘基相（Ban Ki-sang，音译）在周二受到了起诉。潘基相是潘基文的弟弟，他并未遭到逮捕，不过记者无法马上联系上他以置评此事。

The indictment came just 10 days after Ban Ki-moon, who is not accused of any involvement in the affair, ended a decade leading the UN.

就在这一起诉发生十天前，潘基文刚刚结束了对联合国十年的领导。潘基文自身并未被指控与该事件有任何关系。

He has been touted as a possible candidate for the presidency of South Korea, where contenders have already begun jockeying following the impeachment of Park Geun-hye amid a vast corruption scandal.

目前，潘基文已被多方宣传为韩国总统的可能候选人。在韩国，自朴槿惠(Park Geun-hye)因一宗巨大的腐败丑闻而遭弹劾之后，竞争总统的人选已开始明争暗斗。

US authorities claim Mr Ban’s relatives conspired in 2014 to funnel $2.5m via a middleman to an unnamed Middle Eastern official. The official was supposed to convince his country’s sovereign wealth fund to buy the Landmark 72 tower in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, for $800m.

美国当局声称，2014年潘基文的两名亲戚曾密谋通过中间人向一位不知名的中东官员输送250万美元。原本用意是让这名官员说服该国主权财富基金斥资8亿美元，买下越南首都河内的地标72(Landmark 72)大楼。

But the two alleged plotters were double-crossed by the middleman, Malcolm Harris, who did not have the relationship he claimed with the government official and simply pocketed an initial $500,000 downpayment, the indictment asserts.

不过，该起诉书声称，这两位涉嫌的谋划者却遭到这位名为马尔科姆?哈里斯(Malcolm Harris)的中间人的欺骗。哈里斯并不掌握所声称的与这位政府官员的关系，而只是把最初支付的50万美元定金据为己有。

Mr Harris, who has also been charged, used the money for a spending spree including the rental of a luxury penthouse apartment in Brooklyn, prosecutors allege. Mr Harris could not immediately be reached for comment.

检察机关指控称，同样受到指控的哈里斯大肆挥霍了这笔钱，其中包括在布鲁克林租用了一个豪华顶层公寓。记者无法马上与哈里斯取得联系，以置评此事。

“This alleged conduct proves the adage that there is truly no honour among thieves,” said Leslie Caldwell, assistant attorney-general in the US justice department. “The indictment alleges that two defendants wanted to bribe a government official; instead they were defrauded by their co-defendant.”

美国司法部(DoJ)助理总检察官莱斯利?考德威尔(Leslie Caldwell)表示：“这些涉嫌实施的行为证明了那句谚语：小偷是没有真正的节操的。起诉书声称，两位被告想要贿赂政府官员，却被他们的共同被告骗了。”

The former UN secretary-general’s brother was a senior executive at both Landmark 72 and Keangnam Enterprises, the Korean construction company that built and owned the skyscraper, US authorities allege. He wanted to arrange the sale because Keangnam had run into financial trouble from 2013, prosecutors claim.

美国当局指控称，潘基文的这位弟弟是地标72大楼和京南企业(Keangnam Enterprises)的高管。京南企业是建造并拥有这栋摩天大楼的韩国建筑公司。检察机关声称，潘基相之所以希望安排这一转让，是因为京南企业从2013年起遭遇了财务困境。

Mr Ban was “surprised” by reports of the indictments of his relatives and had no knowledge of the matter, according to a spokesperson quoted by Reuters news agency.

据路透社(Reuters)援引潘基文发言人的说法称，潘基文对有关其亲戚所受指控的报道感到“震惊”，并对此毫不知情。