Top Stories

MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBS/AP) ― Despite allegations of death threats and bribery, a federal judge on Wednesday said a millionaire couple accused of keeping two Indonesian women as slaves will be permitted to post $3.5 million bail, provided they remain under home detention with electronic monitoring and 24-hour surveillance -- all paid for by them.

U.S. District Court Justice Thomas Platt ruled that Varsha Mahender Sabhnani, 35, and her husband, Mahender Murlidhar Sabhnani, 51, could be released from jail despite the vehement objections of prosecutors, who contend the Long Island couple may have hidden financial assets they could use to flee the country.

Prosecutors also argued that Varsha Sabhnani's mother in Indonesia had sought to bribe one of the victims' family with $28,000 to make the case go away. They also claimed the suspect's mother threatened to have one of the "slaves" killed after she complained about abusive conditions in the Sabhnani home.

The judge said he was confident the couple did not pose a "risk of flight" provided they adhere to strict conditions of confinement inside their Muttontown home. "For all practical purposes this will be home jail," Platt said. The couple's U.S. passports were confiscated when they were arrested, and their bank accounts have been frozen.

The judge said the allegations of bribery and threats in Indonesia, which were denied by defense lawyers, were not his primary concern. "I don't see myself as an international judge," Platt said.

He told the lawyers for both sides they had until Friday to negotiate the precise details of a bail agreement, including exactly how the security restrictions will work. He said if they fail to agree, he would impose bail restrictions himself; otherwise, the couple can be released whenever the lawyers settle on the terms, possibly as soon as later Wednesday or Thursday.

"We're very, very pleased that the defendants are getting out," said Jeffrey Hoffman, a member of the defense team. The couple will put up their Manhattan apartment, as well as liquidate some investments, to cover the bail, said another defense attorney, Charles Ross.

The Sabhnanis, who operate a worldwide perfume business out of their mansion, were arrested May 13 after one of the Indonesian women was found wandering outside a nearby Dunkin Donuts shop. She apparently had escaped the night before when she was putting out the trash, prosecutors said.

Unable to speak English fluently, she showed her wounds and Indonesian passport to a manager at the shop and said, "Mister, mister, I want to go home, Indonesia," said Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Kristiarto Legowo.

The second victim was found when agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement searched the house later the same day.

The Sabhnanis have been charged with two counts of forced labor and two counts of harboring illegal residents. Each faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Demitri Jones has called the allegations "a case of modern-day slavery."

The women, prosecutors said, were subjected to beatings and scalding water thrown on them, forced to climb stairs repeatedly and take as many as 30 showers in three hours -- all as punishment for perceived misdeeds. In one case, prosecutors said, one of the women was made to eat 25 hot chili peppers at one time.

One of the women also told authorities she was cut behind her ears with a pocket knife and both were forced to sleep on mats in the kitchen. They were fed so little, they claimed, that they stole and hid food from their captors.

Identified in court papers as Samirah and Nona, the women said they were promised payments of $200 and $100 a month, but federal prosecutors said they were never given money directly. One of the victims' daughters living in Indonesia was sent $100 a month, prosecutors said.

They have since been cared for by Catholic Charities; a spokesman declined to comment on their current condition, citing privacy concerns.

(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)