January 9
INDICTMENT, EXHIBITS & RELATED LETTER: U.S. v. Devyani Khobragade
U.S. v. Devyani Khobragade Indictment Exhibits
U.S. Devyani Khobragade Government's 1-9-14 Letter to Judge Scheindlin
U.S. v. Devyani Khobragade Indictment
Key points: the maid, Richard, had her personal passport taken from her by Khobragade in India upon completing her job interview and it was never returned, her papers were prepared by Khobragade, the $4500/month Khobragade entered as the maid's salary was not Khobragade's own salary entered there by mistake, Khobragade prepared the phony contract herself "solely to deceive the U.S. Embassy", Khobragade "coached" Richard to lie, there are photocopies of both the real and the phony contract.
Once they were in the U.S. Khobragade overworked Richard according to the terms of the "true" contract and told her she wouldn't get her passport returned for three years, Khobragade refused to let Richard return to India, and it was only
then that Richard asked to be paid her proper wage under U.S. law, which Khobragade refused.
After six months of this Richard escaped. Khobragade immediately resorted to retaliatory measures in an attempt to prevent Richard and her family from "communicating with lawyers and authorities outside of India about the experience she had -" including personal intimidation of her spouse in India.
In a subsequent meeting between Richard and Khobragade at an "Immigration Office" [organization to provide help on immigration matters] Khobragade and an associate tried to force Richard to sign a document without permitting Richard to read it first. An employee of the Immigration Office intervened and read the document, which was supposed to be Richard's confession that "among other things, she stole from Khobragade." When Richard asked why and what,
Khobragade told her to go to the police!
Khobragade's side of the story "evolved" over time. Soon after this Khobragade filed a FIR in India charging Richard with fraud, wilful deceit, and extortion [exactly the crimes Khobragade appears to be guilty of!]. Khobragade attached an
unsigned copy of the
phony contract with the Indian High Court, adding to her motion that the monthly salary was 30,000 rupees (even though this contradicted the terms of the phony contract!
Nevertheless, an Indian arrest warrant based on the FIR was issued for Richard in late November!
Khobragade is charged with:
1) Perjury - knowingly and willingly lying under oath to the State Dept. officer in India handling the visa applications.
2) Deliberate visa fraud.
3) Scheming to cause Richard to make "materially false statements" in her interview with a State Dept. official.
*
I wonder what the chances are that Khobragade will be indicted for lying to the Indian High Court once she goes back home?