AP: Bail in LI forced-labor case? Not just yet, judge

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--forcedlabor0714jul14,0,6191697.story?coll=ny-region-apnewyork

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) _ A federal judge has put the brakes _ again _ on bail for a wealthy couple accused of forcing two Indonesian housekeepers to serve as their slaves.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Platt _ who initially denied bail for the couple but was overruled by an appeals court _ said Friday he wasn't satisfied with plans for security guards to monitor the suspects' Muttontown mansion and other conditions intended to assure that the two don't flee.

"What has been done so far is not satisfactory," Platt said.

Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, and her husband, Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, have been held without bail since they were arrested in May on federal charges of forced labor and harboring undocumented immigrants. Prosecutors have said the couple held the housekeepers from 2002 to 2007 as virtual slaves, denying them freedom of movement, subjecting them to serious physical abuse and paying them no wages except for $100 a month sent to relatives abroad. Through lawyers, the Sabhnanis have denied the charges.

Early on, Platt indicated he might release the couple on $3.5 million bail if attorneys could agree on conditions of house arrest. But he denied bail after concluding the Sabhnanis posed a flight risk.

Varsha Sabhnani is originally from Indonesia, and her husband is from India; both are U.S. citizens. Prosecutors have argued that the Sabhnanis could have a strong motive to flee, noting that the charges carry prison terms of up to 40 years upon conviction.


FULL story at link.