Bangladeshi UN staff in NY out on bail

The Bangladeshi national United Nations’ staff who was arrested in New York over charges of visa fraud has been released on bail.

Hamidur Rashid, 50, appeared at a brief hearing on Tuesday afternoon before US Magistrate Judge James Cott, and he was released on bail, reports Reuters.

Shameem Ahsan, consul general at the Bangladesh consulate in New York, told The Daily Star that Hamid was released on “unsecured bond” at around 4:00am.

Rashid allegedly committed visa fraud by bringing in a domestic worker from Bangladesh and then failing to pay her a lawful wage. He was charged with visa fraud in foreign labor contracting and aggravated identity theft in a criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court.

Christopher Flood, a public defender representing him at the hearing, said Rashid would be hiring another lawyer and declined to comment on the case.

Prosecutors said that Rashid, an economist at the United Nations' Department of Economic and Social Affairs, initially contracted with the unidentified employee to pay her $420 per week, and submitted that contract to the US State Department to obtain a visa for her.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque has moved a concern with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon, raising the issue of inappropriate treatment of Bangladeshi diplomats in the US.