Indian UN official in soup over graft charges, gets bail

A US court has granted bail to a senior Indian official on deputation to the United Nations (UN), who was arrested recently for allegedly steering UN contracts to Indian firms in return for valuable real estate in Manhattan.

Sanjay Bahel, accused of receiving twin Manhattan apartments at undervalued prices in return for steering UN contracts to Nishan and Nitin Kohli in his capacity as a UN procurement official, was freed on a $ 900,000 bond and additional security.

Bahel has pleaded 'not guilty' even as the Indian government has distanced itself from the bureaucrat saying he had left government service and was not deemed to be on deputation.

Nishan Kohli, a representative of the state–owned Telecommunications Consultants of India Limited (TCIL) and managing partner of Thunderbird Industries, who was arrested in Miami, also pleaded not guilty in a separate court appearance and was released on a $ 1 million bail.

Indian officials in New York and Washington said Bahel had left government service some years back and as such did not enjoy any diplomatic immunity, having joined the UN system and switched over to a UN passport.

The officials, who did not want to go on record, said Bahel might not have formally resigned from service since in many such cases where Indian bureaucrats go on deputation to foreign countries or organisations, the files just gather dust. But nevertheless, he is deemed not to be in government service, they said.

UN secretary–general Kofi Annan's office said he had lifted Bahel's diplomatic immunity at the request of the United States to enable prosecution. According to sources close to the development, Washington has been instrumental in pursuing corruption complaints at the UN, including the Bahel case, after he had initially been cleared in an internal UN inquiry.

Bahel was first investigated by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, before the US began taking active interest in the case, leading to a collaborative probe, involving a task force set up by UN undersecretary–general for management Christopher Burnham, who is an American, and FBI, the sources said.

Meanwhile, Bahel's attorney Raymond Levites said his client was ready to face charges and "looks forward to the trial and being acquitted and then getting some apologies."

Bahel reportedly went to India as recently as September after his suspension from the UN, but returned when he was wanted for further questioning. He would not have returned if he did not want to face charges, Levites said.

The investigation against Bahel was part of the inquiry set off by the Volcker Committee report in the Iraqi oil–for–food programme which had cast doubts on contacts given by peacekeeping department of the United Nations.

Bahel, who was in the field procurement unit of the procurement department of the United Nations, was investigated for bending the rules to steer millions of dollars worth of contracts to Indian firms.

If convicted, they could be sentenced up to ten years in prison and the government is also seeking forfeiture of Bahel's interests in the apartment in midtown Manhattan which, the prosecutors allege, was bought by Kohli in 2003 and sold to Bahel at a very low price in 2005. Bahel and family are alleged to have lived in that apartment paying little or no rent.

A UN employee, who is charged with criminal wrongdoing, can be prosecuted in the country he or she had committed alleged crime.

The indictment charges Bahel with inviting re–bids to ensure that Kohli's companies get the contracts and also providing him with access to information not available to other bidders.