In the wake of the ugly diplomatic spat triggered by the US action against Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade, a top American lawmaker has posed a series of questions to the Obama administration on why no worthwhile action has been taken against 25 Russian diplomats and their spouses for allegedly defrauding US Government-funded benefits programmes.
All through the episode involving the harsh treatment meted out to Khobgragade, the US authorities have faced embarrassing questions from different quarters on why it fought shy of dealing with so many errant Russian diplomats, while going all-out against an Indian diplomat for alleged visa fraud.
Now, Republican lawmaker Ed Royce, who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has written to Secretary of State John Kerry, seeking an explanation on the US handling of the Russian diplomats’ case which again was brought up by the same Indian-American Attorney, Preet Bharara.
Royce, who is known to be a friend of India and a former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India, did not cite the Khobragade issue, but his searching questions are being viewed against the manner in which the Indian diplomat was treated.
“I am deeply troubled by recent reports that dozens of Russian diplomats and their dependents apparently engaged in systematic Medicaid fraud while in the United States,” Royce said in his letter to Kerry, adding: “I am writing to request further information about this matter and the Administration’s plans to address the law enforcement and diplomatic aspects.”
Pointing to the unsealing of Attorney Bhrara’s criminal complaint in the Russian case, Royce said 25 current and former Russian diplomats and 24 of their spouses allegedly participated in a scheme to illegally obtain Medicaid benefits for prenatal care and related costs by underreporting their income or falsely claiming that their children were citizens of the United States.
“Over the course of almost ten years, they and other co-conspirators received approximately $1.5 million in benefits to which they were not entitled,” he said, adding that it has been further alleged that “this behaviour was facilitated by the staff of Russian diplomatic offices in the US, who supplied false documentation to New York officials in support of the fraudulent Medicaid claims made by the diplomats and their spouses”.
Raising questions on the Obama administration’s handling of this matter and the interagency coordination during the investigation, Royce has demanded a detailed, staff-level briefing, besides written answers to a series of questions, including how the administration proposed to treat 11 named defendants who are currently in the United States. “Will you ask the Russian government to waive their immunity so that they can be prosecutedIJ If not, will the Department declare them persona non grataIJ” he asked. He also demanded to know if the administration would seek extradition of 38 other defendants who no longer reside in the US.