Attempted Bribe Linked to Slave Case

May 25, 07:25 AM

Current Headlines: By Robert E. Kessler, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

May 25--Federal prosecutors dropped a bombshell yesterday at a bail hearing for an affluent Muttontown couple charged with slavery and harboring illegal residents, saying the mother of one of the accused had offered a bribe to a relative of one of the alleged victims.

The allegation led a federal judge to delay a hearing on whether the couple should be released on bail until the bribery accusation -- as well as prosecutors' questions about the couple's finances -- are cleared up.

The bribery allegation came after the couple, Varsha Sabhnani and her husband, Mahender Sabhnani, pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Central Islip to charges of slavery and harboring fugitive aliens.

"With some astonishment ... in the past hours, we have learned a very disturbing set of facts," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Lesko.

Prosecutors said Varsha Sabhnani's mother recently had tried to bribe the son-in-law of one of the two Indonesian women who were allegedly enslaved and tortured. The bribe, worth $2,500 in Indonesian currency, was conditioned on the alleged victim's return to Indonesia, where her family and Mrs. Sabhnani's mother live, prosecutors said.

The alleged victim who was the subject of the purported bribe was identified in court only as Jane Doe No. 1, but has been previously identified in court papers as Samirah. Prosecutors Lesko and Demetri Jones have previously said that Jane Doe No. 1 had been repeatedly tortured by Varsha Sabhnani.

Prosecutors said Varsha Sabhnani told Jane Doe No. 1 that if she caused trouble and fled, she would call the police and say the Indonesian woman had stolen her jewelry. They said Sabhnani told the second victim, who has been identified as Jane Doe No. 2 and Nona, that if she caused trouble, Sabhnani's influential friends in Indonesia would have her husband, who lives there, arrested.

Earlier in the week, a federal magistrate had said the Sabhnanis could be released on bail under a stringent set of conditions, but the filing of the indictment allowed the government to call for a new bail hearing. Prosecutors also said the Sabhnanis had not submitted adequate financial information to support the bail.

Defense attorneys said the prosecutors had not previously asked for any new financial information, and claimed it was unfair for the government to raise the bribe allegation in the midst of the bail hearing without prior notice.

Varsha Sabhnani's attorney, Charles Ross, said he was confident the bribe allegation would not be substantiated.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Platt scheduled the next hearing in the case for Wednesday.

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Copyright (c) 2007, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

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