NEW YORK: A former UN official from India, convicted of helping a friend win USD 100 million in UN contracts in return of cash, gifts and a discounted luxury Manhattan apartment, has been sentenced to more than eight years in jail by a US court.Sanjaya Bahel, 58, former chief procurement officer for the United Nations, was awarded 97 months of imprisonment by a judge here on six counts of fraud, conspiracy and accepting corrupt payments.

Bahel, who has been behind bars since the UN sacked him a year ago, was convicted of providing secret, back-channel communication to his businessman friend and the friend's son, helping them win USD 100 million in contracts for computer equipment and technical support during a four-year period from 1999.

In return, Bahel received 10 per cent of the profits, including thousands of dollars in cash each month, first-class plane tickets and a steeply discounted three-bedroom condo at the Dag Hammarskjold Towers in midtown Manhattan."The UN attempts and certainly has the goal of having its operations conducted in an honest manner. That depends on individuals employed by the United Nations," Manhattan Federal Judge Thomas Griesa was quoted as saying by the New York Post.