Devyani Khobragade, whose visa episode caused the US-India diplomatic ties to flare up, is returning to India
Devyani Khobragade, senior Indian diplomat, who made headlines all over the world for her visa fraud which caused a diplomatic spat between United States and India, is headed back to India after being accorded full diplomatic immunity. However, this doesn’t mean she is absolved of any charges. The visa indictment against 39-year-old Khobragade will remain and she will have to face trial, if she returns to the US without diplomatic immunity, US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a letter to District Judge Shira Scheindlin.
Bharara, who earlier was part of the prosecution team that put Rajat Gupta behind bars, said the grand jury has indicted the diplomat on two counts of visa fraud and making false statements in connection with the visa application of her domestic help Sangeeta Richard.
“The charges will remain pending until such time as she can be brought to Court to face the charges, either through a waiver of immunity or the defendant’s return to the United States in a non-immune status. The time between now and the time that she is able to be brought before the Court is excluded automatically under the Speedy Trial Act, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 3161(h)(3) (A), which provides for the exclusion of any period of delay resulting from the unavailability of the defendant,” he said.
Khobragade maintained her innocence and defended by saying, “The charges against me are false and baseless. I look forward to proving them wrong.” She also affirmed her determination to ensure that this episode does not leave a lasting imprint on her family, in particular her children who are still in the US. Khobragade was granted full diplomatic immunity on January 8 under the India-US Headquarters agreement. On 9 January 2014, the US request for waiver of diplomatic immunity to Khobragade was refused by India.
Khobragade was arrested on 12 December 2013 on charges of making false declarations in a visa application for her maid, Sangeeta Richard. She was later released on a $250,000 bond.
The 21-page indictment said that Khobragade did not want to pay the “victim”, her domestic worker Richard, and the required wages under US law or provide her with other protections against exploitative work conditions mandated by US law, which are “widely publicised to foreign diplomats and government officials. The indictment said Khobragade filed a $4,500 amount as monthly income in the visa application of Richard. It said the $4,500 figure did not match “any actual income figure”. It said Khobragade entered into a “fake employment contract” with Richard and told her that it was a “mere formality” in order to get the visa and she “coached” Richard to lie to the US official in her visa interview at the US Embassy in New Delhi. “Khobragade instructed the victim to lie and not say anything about actually being paid only Rs30,000 per month,” the indictment alleged.
The indictment further states that around February 2013, Richard told Khobragade “on several occasions” that she wanted to end the employment contract and return to India because she felt she was being “mistreated.” It adds that after Richard fled Khobragade’s residence, the diplomat and “others took steps to prevent the victim and her family from communicating with lawyers” about the experience she had working for Khobragade.
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