U.S. Charges Dozens of Russian Diplomats and Spouses With Medicaid Fraud --- Federal law enforcement authorities have charged nearly 50 past or present Russian diplomats and their spouses in a $1.5 million Medicaid fraud scheme, an unusual twist in what has become a familiar criminal story line in New York. -- An F.B.I. investigation revealed “the systemic fraudulent submission of falsified applications for Medicaid benefits” by the diplomats and their spouses, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Thursday in United States District Court in Manhattan. -- The diplomats and their spouses obtained the benefits for pregnancies, births and first-year-of-life medical needs, generally applying at the same New York hospital, which was not identified, the complaint says. -- “Diplomacy should be about extending hands, not picking pockets in the host country,” said Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, who, along with George Venizelos, who heads the New York office of the F.B.I., detailed the charges at a news conference on Thursday. - More, BENJAMIN WEISER - NYTimes