Sanjay Bahel’s lawyer says his client is looking forward to the trial, getting acquitted and getting some apologies.
NEW YORK: Sanjay Bahel, a 55-year-old former Indian bureaucrat accused of accepting bribes while working in the United Nations was released on Thursday on bail by a senior US Magistrate Judge.
Bahel, who worked for the UN Procurement Division was arrested on Wednesday afternoon after an indictment in a US District Court accused him of accepting bribes from Miami businessman, Nishan Kohli, to steer $100 million in equipment contracts to India’s state-run Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TLC).
Bahel pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. Defence lawyer Raymond Levites told reporters outside the courthouse that his client was “looking forward to the trail” to clear his name.
Kohli, who was also arrested on bribery charges, pleaded not guilty on Thursday in a separate Miami courtroom and was freed on a $1 million bail.
“Bahel is a professional diplomat in the Indian government. The only thing more important to him than his reputation is his freedom. He looks forward to the trial and being acquitted and then getting some apologies,” said Levites.
Levites also said Bahel who was the former chief of the commodity procurement section of the UN was “hurt” that he was criminally charged even before a UN probe had been completed. Bahel has been suspended without pay since August from his job during the course of the investigation.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric did not go into the details of the internal probe but only confirmed that the UN had shared information with the prosecutors in the office of the US Attorney for the southern district of New York which formulated Wednesday’s indictment.
Levites, meanwhile, persuaded Magistrate Judge Douglas Eaton to set bail that Bahel could pay rather than accept a high government-suggested package that would force Bahel to remain in jail till the trial. The judge finally agreed to release Bahel on a $9,00,000 bail secured by two Manhattan apartments, $90,000 in cash and a car.
According to federal prosecutors, the bribery scandal dates back to 2000 or earlier when Bahel passed on sensitive information to Kohli on live bids in exchange for rent-free accommodation and deals on Manhattan real estate as quid pro quo.
Bahel also stands accused of throwing out good bids and calling for fresh ones to boost to Kohli’s business interests. If convicted the two could be sentenced to prison for up to ten years.
Levites said prosecutors had “mischaracterized the facts of the case” and they looked forward to going to trial.
Charges faced by Bahel: According to federal prosecutor Michael Garcia, Bahel in 2000 or earlier granted exceptional access to Nishan Kohli, with information on bidding. On occasion, Bahel even canceled bids by competing companies and rebid contracts to give Kohli’s business interests a competitive advantage.
Consequently, Kohli secured a number of contracts for TCIL, including radio communications and computer equipment as well as information technology. In return, Kohli purchased the two condominium units at the Dag Hammarskjold Towers for $1.24 million in 2003 and provided them to Bahel and his family for two years at greatly reduced rent or no rent at all.
In 2005, Kohli sold the units to Bahel for less than $1.2 million, $700,000 below market value, drawing a protest from the building’s condominium board.
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