Former UN official from India gets 8 years in jail for graft

A former United Nations procurement official from India convicted of accepting bribes including two steeply discounted luxury Manhattan apartments has been sentenced to eight years and a month in prison.

A former United Nations procurement official from India convicted of accepting bribes including two steeply discounted luxury Manhattan apartments has been sentenced to eight years and a month in prison.

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A judge in New York sentenced 57-year-old Sanjaya Bahel yesterday after a jury found he had helped a friend win USD100 million in UN contracts.

Bahel was chief of the UN's Commodity Procurement Section from 1999 to 2003.

He has apologised and says he feels true remorse. He says he's lost everything and suffered public humiliation.

Bahel was convicted of bribery, wire fraud and mail fraud last June. A defence lawyer says he'll return to his native India after he serves his sentence.