Two Indian-American officials face bribery charges in NY
Two Indian-American employees of New York Department of Transport (DoT) were arraigned in a federal court, hours after they were arrested for alleged bribery involving USD 450,000.
By Agencies |
NEW YORK: Two Indian-American employees of New York Department of Transport (DoT) were arraigned in a federal court, hours after they were arrested for alleged bribery involving USD 450,000.
The two were identified by the police as Balram Chandiramani, Director of Movable Bridges, and Uday Shah, Assistant civil engineer. Both were released on USD 500,000 bond.
Chandiramani, who has been working for 37 years and Shah for 16 years in the department, alleged to have offered to raise the contractors payment by USD 6.2 million in return for the kickbacks in a renovation work of a 109-year-old bridge. They allegedly offered to fix an inflated bill by the contractors in return for USD 450,000 out which USD 350,000 were to go to Chandiramani and USD 100,000 to Shah.
The dispute arose over claims submitted by contractors hired to repaint the bridge which is under renovation at a cost of around USD 116 million.
The authorities say that contractors went to the authorities instead and the federal prosecutors told them to go along.
According to media reports, some conservations between the contractors and the two were recorded by the authorities and could be used in the case.
The DoT officials were inspecting the 37-span bridge again as a precautionary measure and were also looking into other payments made to the contractors. Top officials said they have "zero tolerance" policy for corruption.
The two were identified by the police as Balram Chandiramani, Director of Movable Bridges, and Uday Shah, Assistant civil engineer. Both were released on USD 500,000 bond.
Chandiramani, who has been working for 37 years and Shah for 16 years in the department, alleged to have offered to raise the contractors payment by USD 6.2 million in return for the kickbacks in a renovation work of a 109-year-old bridge. They allegedly offered to fix an inflated bill by the contractors in return for USD 450,000 out which USD 350,000 were to go to Chandiramani and USD 100,000 to Shah.
The dispute arose over claims submitted by contractors hired to repaint the bridge which is under renovation at a cost of around USD 116 million.
The authorities say that contractors went to the authorities instead and the federal prosecutors told them to go along.
According to media reports, some conservations between the contractors and the two were recorded by the authorities and could be used in the case.
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The DoT officials were inspecting the 37-span bridge again as a precautionary measure and were also looking into other payments made to the contractors. Top officials said they have "zero tolerance" policy for corruption.
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