Former UN official convicted of bribery - Sanjaya Bahel

[Tigress DEM]

http://gielda.onet.pl/14,1416919,,3255,ft.html
Financial Times June 8 2007

<snip>

A former United Nations procurement officer was convicted on Thursday on bribery and fraud charges for helping steer millions of dollars in UN contracts to a friend in exchange for cash and sweet deals on two luxury apartments.

A Manhattan federal jury convicted Sanjaya Bahel, 57, on six counts of bribery, wire fraud and mail fraud after a two week trial.

Mr Bahel, who served as chief of the UN’s commodity procurement section from 1999 to 2003, faces as much as 35 years in prison when he is sentenced on September 10, but he will almost certainly receive less under the federal sentencing guidelines. The case is one of a series of UN-related prosecutions brought by Michael Garcia, the US attorney for the southern district of New York.

Mr Garcia has said his office has a special responsibility to crack down on bad behavior at the international body because of its location in Manhattan.

more....
Financial Times June 8 2007 (Poland or Russia maybe?)
by line By Brooke Masters in New York

http://gielda.onet.pl/14,1416919,,3255,ft.html



SO does anyone on DU know about this guy? He's been convicted of taking bribes on MILLIONS of dollars in contracts. I'm guessing he isn't a DEM or it would be on FAUX by now.

[Tigress DEM]

1. Daily News INDIA

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1101983

Former UN official convicted of bribery
Dharam Shourie / PTI
Friday, June 08, 2007 10:19 IST

<snip>
He was convicted of bribery, wire fraud and mail fraud charges. Bahel, 57, will be kept in jail until his sentencing in September. "I don't know whether there could be some scheme to have him depart from the country," US District Judge Thomas P Griesa said.


<snip>
Bahel, who was chief of UN Commodity Procurement Department from 1999 to 2003, has maintained his innocence all along and slumped in his chair when the verdict was read in the court.

The investigation against Bahel, who is from India, 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.

<snip>
During his testimony, Kohli said he had made cash payments to Bahel and rented two luxury apartments to him on a discounted rent and then sold them at much lower than the prevailing price. He also said he had arranged strip club visits and prostitutes for two UN officials for 6000 dollar a night and repeated it for one of them.

[Tigress DEM]

2. Washinton Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/07/AR2007060702151.html

Ex-U.N. Official Convicted on 6 Counts of Fraud, Conspiracy

<snip>

The U.S. attorney for New York's Southern District, Michael J. Garcia, said that Bahel was convicted on six counts of fraud and conspiracy and faces up to 35 years in prison. Bahel is the 14th person to be convicted by federal investigators since they launched a probe into U.N. corruption linked to the $64 billion oil-for-food program.

The government case relied on the testimony of Nishan Kohli, who pleaded guilty to bribing Bahel in exchange for inside information. Kohli, who faces up to 10 years in prison, said that Bahel helped him win more than $50 million in contracts for an Indian state company he represented, Telecommunications Consultants India. Bahel was also accused of using his position on behalf of another firm controlled by Kohli, Thunderbird Industries LLC, which is incorporated in the District and uses addresses in McLean and New York City.

Bahel, who has denied wrongdoing, will be sentenced Sept. 10.

[Tigress DEM]

3. Wall Street Journal (have to be a suscriber)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118127338759028828.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


Otherwise THIS is all you get:

A former United Nations official was convicted of helping a friend secure $100 million in U.N. contracts in exchange for ...

[Tigress DEM]

4. Reuters from 6/7/07 21:51 GMT

Ex-UN official guilty in New York corruption trial
07 Jun 2007 21:51:24 GMT
Source: Reuters

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07265253.htm

<snip>
The telecommunications company secured a number of contracts during Bahel's tenure that totaled $50 million in value, prosecutors said.

The United Nations also awarded Thunderbird a three-year contract worth $12 million, though the contract was canceled for reasons unrelated to Bahel.

In return, prosecutors said, Bahel was awarded 10 percent of Kohli's profits earned through U.N. business, first-class plane tickets and reduced prices as a renter, and then buyer, of a luxury apartment close to the U.N. headquarters in Manhattan.

Defense lawyer Richard Herman had accused prosecutors of a "witch hunt" against Bahel aiming to repair the public relations damage done to the United Nations over other scandals including the Iraq oil-for-food investigation.

[Tigress DEM]

5. Anyone know if this is GOOD or BAD?

[Tigress DEM]

7. The are also going after Galloway again.

Galloway's Iraq charity given improper cash, says watchdog


David Pallister
Friday June 8, 2007
The Guardian

http://society.guardian.co.uk/voluntary/story/0,,2098405,00.html

<snip>

George Galloway's Mariam Appeal, the campaign he set up to oppose UN sanctions on Iraq, received at least £230,000 in improper donations, the Charity Commission will report today. The money came from the Jordanian businessman Fawaz Zureikat, chairman of the charity, after he paid illicit kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime in exchange for a big contract under the oil-for-food programme, according to the report.

The commission found that the trustees were not sufficiently vigilant and did not properly discharge their legal duties when they accepted the donations. It said it remained "concerned, having considered the totality of the evidence, that Mr Galloway may also have known of the connection between the appeal and the programme".

[wyldwolf]

6. so THAT'S how he stayed on American Idol so long!

[Tigress DEM]

8. ROFL