Posted on 11/01/2006 7:08:07 PM PST by CubaninMiami
A senior United Nations official who used his influence to steer contracts worth more than $50 million to a man who rewarded him with valuable real estate was arrested Wednesday, prosecutors said.
Sanjaya Bahel, of Manhattan, was charged in an indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
The man and his recored is here:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cgda.nic.in/cgda/pinknew/Sanjaya_Bahel.jpg&imgrefurl=http://cgda.nic.in/cgda/pinknew/Sanjaya_Bahel.html&h=109&w=86&sz=9&hl=en&sig2=2vxAxl_SoTk2ja2dnZSN-g&start=1&tbnid=1WZBFizx-35A_M:&tbnh=85&tbnw=67&ei=-XRJRZi4OKbGJKCGgaUM&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSanjaya%2BBahel%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DGGLG,GGLG:2006-28,GGLG:en
Semper Fi
another article with more detail:
U.N. suspends Indian official for steering deals
By Nick Wadhams
ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 3, 2006
NEW YORK -- A U.N. official has been suspended after an internal investigation concluded that he steered millions of dollars in contracts to a company owned by the government of his native India in exchange for favors that included low-rent apartments.
The investigation claimed that Sanjaya Bahel, who was formally an official in the Indian government when he was working for the United Nations under contract, used his relationship with a wealthy Indian businessman and his son to steer the deals to the company they represented, Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd. (TCIL).
According to the probe, disclosed Thursday, Mr. Bahel also ignored evidence that TCIL wrongly withheld money from employees sent to U.N. peacekeeping missions in places such as Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kosovo to do communications work. While the workers claimed they were only getting a pittance -- sometimes as little as $5 for daily expenses -- the money enriched another company associated with the Indian businessman and his son.
The investigation's findings were detailed in a confidential report. Mr. Bahel vehemently denied the claims and said the United Nations only notified him of them just before making them public.
"All I can say to you is to me the allegations are not correct," he said. "I have good reasoning and valid reasoning to counter those."
Mr. Bahel was chief of commodity procurement for the United Nations from 1998 to 2003. From 1999 to 2004, TCIL received more than $100 million in U.N. contracts, the report said.
Details of the investigation were first reported in yesterday's editions of the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore. They are the latest in a string of claims of fraud in the procurement department, which is responsible for awarding millions of dollars in contracts to do business with the United Nations worldwide.
After learning the details of Mr. Bahel's case were about to be made public by Il Sole 24 Ore, the United Nations issued a statement through spokesman Stephane Dujarric that it had suspended an unidentified male staffer and charged him with misconduct. Mr. Bahel confirmed late Thursday that he was that staffer.
Mr. Dujarric said evidence in the case "has also been shared with the prosecutorial authorities of the host country."
A U.N. diplomat speaking on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the evidence was shared with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, which has been investigating claims of fraud in the procurement office for several months. A spokeswoman for the prosecutor had no immediate comment about the Bahel case.
Navtej Sarna, spokesman for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, said he was not aware of Mr. Bahel's suspension or the accusations against him.
Mr. Bahel could face charges including wire fraud and conspiracy.
Page 1 of 2 next »
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20060902-113713-6233r.htm
FOXNEWS.COM
U.N. Procurement Scandal: The Case of the Official Who Never Was
Monday, January 23, 2006
By George Russell and Claudia Rosett
UNITED NATIONS — Trouble in the United Nations Procurement Division is now well established as the world organization’s successor scandal to Oil-for-Food.
Two U.N. officials have already been arrested, leading to one guilty plea so far. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of contracts have been questioned, and earlier this week, an independent consulting report described the U.N. purchasing department — which spends the bulk of taxpayer dollars contributed to the U.N. — as inept, disorganized and ripe for malfeasance.
Amid that morass, one of the most intriguing mysteries to date involves the curious case of the senior official who did not take charge: Sanjaya Bahel. In a memo (pdf) issued by his superiors this summer, Bahel, 55, was announced as the new chief of procurement, just as major revelations of corruption began to surface. But Bahel did not end up in the job.
What happened?
One strong possibility is that Bahel is being targeted by at least some of the federal and U.N. investigators who are currently working their way through procurement, as part of an investigation announced by Secretary General Kofi Annan. But U.N. officials won’t say. In a recent interview, the U.N.’s new under-secretary for management, Christopher Burnham, noted that the United Nations does not disclose names when it is carrying out an investigation of its personnel.
(Story continues below)
http://tinyurl.com/yn3xwl
Did he forget to pass along 10% to Kofi?
bhut hov coorse, Mis-siour Reek!
GET OUT!!
(shoves CubaninMiami backwards)
I think you misunderstood this whole thing. Obviously it was just a botched joke about President Bush. ;-)
clearly a Haliburtonian plot... Rovvvvee!
Will it surprise anyone here to learn that the man was a John Kerry donor in 2004?
From www.fecinfo.com:
Kohli, Nishan
2/7/2004 $250.00
New York, NY 10010
Thunderbird Industries LLC/Managing
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC
Christian news and commentary at: sacredscoop.com ...
But he did it for the children and senior citizens....
This guy must have tried to stiff one of his compatriots. How else did he get caught working amoung a den of thieves?
The only thing better than the friend being Kofi, is if the friend was 'Dingy Harry' Reid.
Koffi?
no thanks, gives me the craps
Perhaps fellow UN workers will riot and loot the bar .
LOL
Thanks for the ping!
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