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In 2017, the US Court found Ho guilty of bribing Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa with half a million UD dollars ($500,000). The court consequently sentenced him to 36 months in prison and a fine of $400,000.
Ho however appealed the decision by the court.
In the ruling, Court found Patrick Ho guilty of paying bribes on behalf of a Chinese company to the leaders of Chad and Uganda. This he apparently did in exchange for commercial advantages.
Kutesa denied and still denies the allegations. Instead he claims that Mr Ho wired the money to his account for the charity organization.
The Ugandan government then instituted a committee led by Attorney General William Byaruhanga. This committee soon cleared Kutesa of any wrongdoing.
The committee in their report said that they had evidence of Kutesa’s legally registered charity organization in Uganda.
A brief background of the case
In 2014, Patrick Ho sought an introduction to Sam Kutesa – the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Uganda. Kutesa had just recently begun his one-year term as the President of the UN General Assembly. The purpose was to help CEFC Energy develop business in Uganda’s oil fields.
Ho contacted Kutesa’s office at the UN in New York and introduced himself as the “Deputy Chairman and Secretary General” of CEFC NGO. – “A Chinese think tank registered in Hong Kong and also in the USA as a public charity” with “special consultative status from UN’s Economic and Social Council.”
In February 2016 – by this time, Kutesa had completed his term as President of the General Assembly and returned to Uganda.
Where Kutesa’s wife comes in
Foreign Minister – Kutesa, then through his wife, solicited a bribe from Ho. They planned to disguise this as a donation to a charitable foundation. Ho requested, and ultimately received, authorization from the chairman of CEFC Energy to make a half-million-dollar payment to Kutesa’s charity.
Patrick Ho then contacted Kutesa to advise him that the payment would be made. This payment would also procure an invitation for Mr Ho to the inauguration of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who was Kutesa’s brother-in-law. Ho told Kutesa that he would bring executives from CEFC Energy to discuss business opportunities in Uganda.
On May 5, 2016, Ho caused a wire transfer of $500,000 to be sent from CEFC NGO to an account belonging to the Food Security and Sustainable Energy Foundation at Stanbic Bank in Kampala, Uganda. This money served as a “donation to the foundation” designated by the Kutesas.
Specifically, the money trail originated “from HSBC Hong Kong on behalf of CEFC [NGO] as the originator, through to HSBC Bank US as the 10 US correspondent for credit to Deutsche Bank in New York.
Mr Ho and a CEFC Energy delegation then attended the inauguration in May 2016. He along with his colleagues met with Museveni, Kutesa, and others. After the trip, Patrick Ho emailed the Kutesas and reiterated that CEFC Energy was anxious to partner with the Kutesa’s family businesses.
About five months later, Kutesa’s wife told Mr Ho about a confidential opportunity to acquire a Ugandan bank.
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