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Roger Khan saga…
Simels indicted by grand jury to stand trial
…remaining attorneys may bail out
Robert Simels
Attorney Robert Simels, who has been accused of attempting to “eliminate” the main witness against his client, embattled Guyanese businessman Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan, and his associate Arienne Irving, were yesterday indicted by a grand jury at a Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, to stand trial before a judge and jury.
Recent revelations based on an undercover operation saw charges being laid against Irving, Simels and Khan, but the attorney and his associate managed to secure bail to the tune of $3.5M and $100,000 respectively.
In the previous week, the judge had fixed yesterday for a preliminary hearing into the complaint, but the grand jury moved to indict the trio.
Simels had indicated to Judge Dora Irizarry in a motion that he would sever all contact with Khan.
There are now rife speculations that Khan’s remaining attorneys may abandon him, given that they were all recruited by Simels.
If convicted, Simels faces as many as ten years in jail. The developments already threaten to push back the start date for Khan’s trial, which was slated for early November.
Simels’s lawyer, in an earlier statement, had said that he plans to fight the accusations levelled against his client.
Simels was arrested just over a week ago and accused in an 18-page federal complaint of paying an alleged ‘Phantom Squad’ member $1,000 for the hit, which also included strict orders not to kill the witness’s mother.
Simels, who was arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court with conspiring to obstruct justice, is accused of attempting to arrange a hit for Khan.
Khan allegedly told Simels that the case against him hinged on one man — identified in court papers as “John Doe No 1.” Simels wanted to “eliminate” and “neutralize” the witness, authorities said.
He allegedly told a government informant at one point that, “Obviously, any witness you can eliminate is a good thing.”
The feds said that, on June 19, 2008, Simels met with the government informant in his Manhattan office and handed over a $1,000 down payment for the hit.
The two were reportedly caught on tape, according to the federal complaint, with Simels saying, “Here’s $1,000 to get started.”
When the undercover informant said, “No problem,” Simels replied, “All [Khan] says is be careful. He says don’t kill the [witness’s] mother.”
During the brief conversation, Simels also said, “Well, [Khan] would like as much pressure being put on [John Doe No. 1] as possible.”
The authorities revealed that a five-month investigation which involved a confidential source who was cooperating with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) against Khan, Simels and Irving, eventually led to the indictment.
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