HIL DONOR JUMPS BAIL ON INDIA RAP

High-flying restaurant operator Sant Singh Chatwal, one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's biggest financial backers, has fled fraud charges in India and is back in New York City.

Chatwal apparently jumped bail of 1.5 million rupees - about $32,000 - on Monday and managed to board a flight to Vienna, despite an attempt by the Central Bureau of Investigation - India's equivalent of the FBI - to have immigration officials detain him.

He arrived in New York on Tuesday, said Rabinder Singh, a business associate.

Chatwal, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in India, was accused by India in December of defrauding the New York City branch of the state-run Bank of India out of $9 million he borrowed in 1994.
He had traveled to his homeland to help arrange an earthquake-relief visit by former President Bill Clinton last month.

Chatwal could not be reached yesterday despite repeated calls to his office and home - and assurances that he wanted to tell his story to the Daily News.

Central Bureau of Investigation officials complained to reporters yesterday that Chatwal apparently escaped because a letter they had sent to immigration officials at Bombay's Sahar International Airport, requesting that he be detained, did not reach them or was ignored.

Despite titanic debts, including back taxes and loans due to failed banks in the U.S., along with a forced bankruptcy in 1995, the chief of the Bombay Palace restaurant chain was one of the biggest soft-money contributors to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign. He is linked to at least $210,000 in contributions.

Chatwal also accompanied then-President Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea during their state visit to India in March 2000.

The Clintons have consistently declined to comment on Chatwal.

Thursday, May 10th 2001, 2:21AM
Source: Daily News