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A US grand jury on Friday indicted diplomat Devyani Khobragade on same criminal charges contained in an earlier indictment dismissed by a New York court just the day before.
Khobragade is charged with visa fraud and making false statements that could together get her a maximum of 15 years in jail if she was every tried and convicted.
US attorney Preet Bharara’s office had charged the diplomat with visa fraud and making false statements in connection with the employment of her housekeeper Sangeeta Richard.
Khobragade was arrested on December 12 outside her children’s school in New York, and strip-searched at a holding facility before being produced in a court.
Shocked and outraged, India demanded an apology, removed barriers from outside the US embassy in Delhi and withdrew privileges extended to American diplomats.
Secretary of state John Kerry did express regrets in a call to National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon. But Bharara’s office pressed ahead with the case.
As deputy consul-general at the Indian consulate, it was argued, she didn’t enjoy full diplomatic immunity from criminal prosecution.
India transferred her to its permanent mission to the UN, whose staff are entitled to diplomatic immunity. Khobragade was granted hers on January 8.
She was indicted the next day, and the US asked her to leave the country when India refused to waive her newly acquired immunity so she could be prosecuted.
- See more at: Devyani Khobragade re-indicted in US visa fraud case - Hindustan Times
Khobragade is charged with visa fraud and making false statements that could together get her a maximum of 15 years in jail if she was every tried and convicted.
US attorney Preet Bharara’s office had charged the diplomat with visa fraud and making false statements in connection with the employment of her housekeeper Sangeeta Richard.
Khobragade was arrested on December 12 outside her children’s school in New York, and strip-searched at a holding facility before being produced in a court.
Shocked and outraged, India demanded an apology, removed barriers from outside the US embassy in Delhi and withdrew privileges extended to American diplomats.
Secretary of state John Kerry did express regrets in a call to National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon. But Bharara’s office pressed ahead with the case.
As deputy consul-general at the Indian consulate, it was argued, she didn’t enjoy full diplomatic immunity from criminal prosecution.
India transferred her to its permanent mission to the UN, whose staff are entitled to diplomatic immunity. Khobragade was granted hers on January 8.
She was indicted the next day, and the US asked her to leave the country when India refused to waive her newly acquired immunity so she could be prosecuted.
- See more at: Devyani Khobragade re-indicted in US visa fraud case - Hindustan Times
