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U.N. official arrested for graft

Real estate as a reward for contracts

NEW YORK: 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 on Wednesday, prosecutors said.

Sanjaya Bahel, of Manhattan, was charged in an indictment unsealed in a United States District Court.

Mr. Bahel, a former Indian official, and chief of the commodity procurement section of the U.N.'s Procurement Division until 2003, is chief of the Commercial Activities Service in the U.N. Postal Administration.

He has been suspended without pay since August.

Mr. Bahel, 55, was accused of accepting city real estate as a reward to assist Nishan Kohli in getting contracts.

Mr. Kohli was arrested in Miami on Wednesday.

Mr. Bahel was formally charged, said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

According to the indictment, Mr. Bahel, beginning in at least 2000, used his influence as a senior procurement officer to benefit Mr. Kohli and the companies he represented.

Mr. Bahel granted exceptional access to Mr. Kohli, including a line of communication and a source for information within the U.N. that exceeded what other world body vendors received, U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia said in a statement.

Mr. Bahel even cancelled bids by competing companies and rebid contracts to make sure Mr. Kohli and his business interests had a competitive advantage, Mr. Garcia said.

Charged with bribery

Both men, charged with bribery, could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

At the request of U.S. authorities, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday agreed to have Mr. Bahel's diplomatic immunity waived.

Asked about the findings by The Associated Press two months ago, Mr. Bahel vehemently denied the claims.

``To me, the allegations are not correct,'' he said then.

A U.N. report said Bahel had a longtime relationship with the Kohlis, who were on the guest list for his son's 2002 wedding.— AP

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