Arrested Indian Diplomat to Fight Charges of US Visa Fraud

Accused of US visa fraud and short-changing her housekeeper, Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade is "troubled" by the charges, says lawyer. Nathan Frandino reports.

Published

4 months ago

Categories

US, World

Topics

Legal, Politics & Government, United States, Asia

People

Nathan Frandino

Places

United States of America, New York

Transcript

Officials in New York are going after a senior female diplomat from the Indian Consulate. According to court documents, deputy consul general Devyani Khobragade faces one charge of visa fraud in lying about how much she paid her housekeeper, an Indian national. Khobragade's attorney, Daniel Arshack, says his client is troubled by the charges. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DANIEL ARSHACK, LAWYER FOR DEVYANI KHOBRAGADE, SAYING: "As I said in court, we believe that she should be entitled to immunity and the underlying facts ultimately will show that she should never have been charged in the first place." Prosecutors say the diplomat claimed in visa applications to be paying her housekeeper about $4,500 a month, when in fact, she was paying her about 30,000 Indian rupees a month. That's about $480 U.S. a month, or $3.31 per hour -- less than half the legal minimum. Indian officials are standing behind their diplomat. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DANIEL ARSHACK, LAWYER FOR DEVYANI KHOBRAGADE, SAYING: "The Indian Embassy issued a statement earlier today completely supporting our client and expressing intense displeasure at the political decision to arrest her yesterday." Khobragade has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which also included making false statements. She faces a maxium of 15 years in jail, if convicted.