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$2M bail set for diplomat charged in UN bribery case

FILE - In this April 27, 2010 file photo, Francis Lorenzo, Deputy Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, attends a party held in honor of the Miss Italy beauty pageant in New York. Lorenzo and five others from the United Nations were charged Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015 in a bribery scheme by federal prosecutors in New York. (Jason DeCrow/AP Images for Miren International, File) FILE - In this April 27, 2010 file photo, Francis Lorenzo, Deputy Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, attends a party held in honor of the Miss Italy beauty pageant in New York. Lorenzo and five others from the United Nations were charged Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2015 in a bribery scheme by federal prosecutors in New York. (Jason DeCrow/AP Images for Miren International, File)

By Associated Press October 9, 2015 1 min read

NEW YORK (AP) – Over a prosecutor’s objection, bail has been set at $2 million for a Dominican Republic diplomat arrested in a bribe-related criminal case that also landed a former president of the United Nations Assembly behind bars.

A magistrate judge says Friday that Francis Lorenzo can stay at his mother’s Bronx home after bail conditions are met, including electronic monitoring and a temporary waiver of immunity.

Lorenzo was arrested Tuesday along with a former U.N. ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda.

Prosecutors say the 48-year-old Lorenzo accepted and paid bribes to help a billionaire Chinese real estate mogul influence the United Nations to support construction of a multibillion dollar U.N. conference center in Macau, China.

Lorenzo’s lawyer, Brian Bieber, said outside court he was confident Lorenzo did not commit a crime.