U.S. Indicts U.N. Official, Indian Lobbyist on Corruption Charges

On November 1, 2006, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced an indictment originally brought under seal against a U.N. official and the representative of an Indian government enterprise for corruption in the procurement of U.N. contracts. The two-count indictment targets Sanjaya Bahel, Chief of the U.N.’s Commodity Procurement Section from 1998-2003 and Chief of the Commercial Activities Section, U.N. Postal Administration, 2003-2006. Prior to his U.N. service, Bahel worked for the Indian government in various capacities, including as an employee of the Ministries of Finance and Defense. The indictment also charges Nishan Kohli, an officer or agent of a number of companies...[more]