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Meet the Indian-American prosecutor who brought down Gupta and arrested Khobragade
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/us-attorney-preet-bharara-devyani-khobragade-new-york-barack-obama-india/1/331702.htmlSo, the Indian press, at least, have found a villain in the Khobragade case: Preet Bahara, the Indian-American District Attorney who, they claim, has a record of prosecuting Indian people too harshly.
India's Deputy Consul General in New York Devyani Khobragade would be fairly small fry for US Attorney Preet Bharara - the New York-based federal prosecutor who won the biggest ever insider trading case last month, against SAC Capital.
But Indian-born Bharara has made it clear that there is no offender too big - or too small - to escape his attention. This month alone, actions initiated by his office and convictions include those against Wall Street executives, tax evaders, drug and arms dealers and an Indian American pharmacy owner in Queens.
The escalating diplomatic row between India and the US over the arrest and treatment meted out to Khobragade is in fact the second such tussle set off by the actions of Bharara's office this month. She is charged with giving false information and documents to support her domestic help's visa application.
On December 5, Bharara announced charges against 25 serving and former Russian diplomats and their spouses for allegedly defrauding Medicaid, an American state-run health care programme, to obtain about $1.5 million in benefits over a decade. No arrest was made in that case and Bharara said the case was unlikely to go to trial as the defendants had immunity. At a news conference held to announce the charges, Bharara said it was a case "we would be prosecuting and making arrests in, but for immunity". But he noted that participation in crimes by diplomats generally leads to expulsion from a country.
But Indian-born Bharara has made it clear that there is no offender too big - or too small - to escape his attention. This month alone, actions initiated by his office and convictions include those against Wall Street executives, tax evaders, drug and arms dealers and an Indian American pharmacy owner in Queens.
The escalating diplomatic row between India and the US over the arrest and treatment meted out to Khobragade is in fact the second such tussle set off by the actions of Bharara's office this month. She is charged with giving false information and documents to support her domestic help's visa application.
On December 5, Bharara announced charges against 25 serving and former Russian diplomats and their spouses for allegedly defrauding Medicaid, an American state-run health care programme, to obtain about $1.5 million in benefits over a decade. No arrest was made in that case and Bharara said the case was unlikely to go to trial as the defendants had immunity. At a news conference held to announce the charges, Bharara said it was a case "we would be prosecuting and making arrests in, but for immunity". But he noted that participation in crimes by diplomats generally leads to expulsion from a country.
