Diplomat From India Is Indicted Again Over Housekeeper
A grand jury in New York has reindicted an Indian diplomat whose arrest and strip-search last year in the United States created tensions between the United States and India.
The new indictment, filed on Friday, reinstated visa fraud charges against the diplomat, Devyani Khobragade, that were dismissed on Wednesday after a federal district judge accepted her claim of diplomatic immunity. The ruling did not prevent prosecutors from pursuing a new indictment, and they seized the opportunity.
Ms. Khobragade, formerly the deputy consul general in New York, faces one count of visa fraud and one count of making false statements in her application to obtain a work visa for her housekeeper and paying the housekeeper far less than the minimum legal wage, according to the indictment.
Her lawyer, Daniel Arshack, declined a request to comment on the indictment. “The government of India will respond in due course,” he said in an email.
Ms. Khobragade is back in India, after leaving the United States in January at the request of the State Department. It was not clear whether she would appear in court to face the charges, and she is unlikely to face extradition.
Prosecutors said Ms. Khobragade told the United States government that she was paying her housekeeper $9.75 an hour, while actually paying her less than $3 an hour and often making her work up to 100 hours a week cooking, cleaning and attending to Ms. Khobragade’s two children.
“Khobragade did not want to pay the victim the required wages under law or provide the victim with other protections against exploitative work conditions mandated for by U.S. law,” the indictment said.
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