U.N. Corruption Trial Jury To Deliberate

The jury in a corruption trial related to U.N. deals involving tens of millions of dollars is expected to start deliberating today — a day after the prosecution rested its case.The case, which is part of a string of federal criminal cases, involves allegations that a U.N. procurement department official, Sanjaya Bahel, helped businesses owned by one family, the Kohlis, to receive tens of millions of dollars in contracts. In return, according to the prosecution, Mr. Bahel received payments in cash, expensive airplane tickets, and a favorable deal allowing him to reside at a luxurious Manhattan apartment.Inside the U.N. procurement department, the Indian-born Mr. Bahel “put a thumb on the scale” so that the Kohli-owned companies, TCIL and Thunderbird, would be awarded the lucrative deals, a prosecutor for the U.S. Southern District of New York, Alex Willscher, said during his summation.The secret arrangement with Nanak Kohli and his two sons, Ranjit and Nishan, was that Mr. Bahel would receive 10% of the profits from U.N. contracts awarded to their companies, Mr. Willscher said.The star witnesses in the case included Nishan Kohli, who had pleaded guilty to bribery and agreed to cooperate with the government, and one of Mr. Bahel’s former subordinate at the United Nations, Jane Redfern. Ms. Redfern was the whistleblower who had brought the case to the attention of U.N. management.As he started arguing the defense’s case yesterday, Mr. Bahel’s attorney, Richard Herman, contended that the testimony amounted to a revisionist history of the case. Mr. Kohli was a self-confessed liar, he said, and Ms. Redfern was “biased against Mr. Bahel.” A task force created by the United Nations to investigate the procurement department, he added, amounted to a “witch hunt” designed to polish the public image of the United Nations in the aftermath of the oil-for-food scandal.The United Nations “provides peace and security in war-torn spots around the world,” the prosecutor, Mr. Willscher, said, but there is also a “stain of corruption within the organization.” Key points made by his star witnesses, he told the jury, were corroborated by emails, airplane tickets, telephone records, and other supporting documentation.According to Mr. Willscher, Mr. Bahel made a point of concealing — even from his own family — payments made to him by the Kohlis. The Kohlis bought a laptop computer, but the receipt was made to look like Mr. Bahel bought it. Similarly purchased were two first-class tickets to India for Mr. Bahel and his wife, valued at $16,888, and several tickets for the U.S. Open tennis championship, costing $1,000 each.A Kohli-owned luxury apartment was rented to Mr. Bahel’s family for $5,000 a month, even as the previous tenant paid $8,600, Mr. Willscher told the jurors. A separate agreement, presented as government evidence, provided for three rent-free months each year. After five years, the apartment was sold to Mr. Bahel for $1.24 million, even as similar apartments were sold for $1.8 million.“We live in the real world,” Mr. Willscher said, “We live in New York. No landlord does that for you.”For his part, Mr. Herman concentrated yesterday on Nishan Kohli, calling him a “trust-fund kid” and a “cocaine user,” and quoting his testimony saying all he desired was “a second home and a private jet.” Mr. Kohli testified that he had cheated on his wife with prostitutes, Mr. Herman said, and that he had lied to prosecutors. “He’ll lie to anybody if it suits him,” Mr. Herman said.The defense is expected to wrap up its summation today. If convicted of charges of bribery, wire fraud, and mail fraud, the 57-year-old Mr. Bahel could face up to 30 years in prison.

U.N. Corruption Trial Jury To Deliberate

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