Washington: Visa fraud charges have been slapped against three Indian-origin consultants in the US after they had allegedly submitted sham applications for H-1B visas to gain a competitive advantage over competing firms.
Kishore Dattapuram (49), of Santa Clara, Kumar Aswapathi (49), of Austin, Texas, and Santosh Giri (42), of San Jose, were indicted last month by a federal grand jury on 10 counts of substantive visa fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud. The three operated Nanosemantics, Inc, a consulting firm. The company’s services included placing skilled foreign workers at software and technology companies in the Bay Area.
In order to secure an H-1B visa, an employer or other sponsor must submit an ‘I-129’ petition to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. A petition and associated documentation must confirm the existence and duration of the job waiting for the worker, and describe key details including the wages associated with the position.
The defendants allegedly used Nanosemantics to submit fraudulent I-129 petitions and obtain H-1B visas for workers that the defendants could later place at local companies. By maintaining a group of available workers, the defendants would gain a competitive advantage over consultants that properly applied for paperwork only after matching a qualified worker to and available job.
According to the indictment, several of the I-129 petitions submitted by defendants stated that particular workers had specific jobs waiting for them at designated companies when, in reality, the defendants knew that these jobs did not exist.
They had also allegedly sought the cooperation of third parties to conceal their fraud and coached foreign workers and others to respond to government inquiries in a way that would prevent the government from discovering the fraud.
All three defendants entered pleas of not guilty and were released on bonds. They are next scheduled to appear on 13 May for a status conference. If convicted, they will face a maximum sentence of 10 years, and a fine of USD 250,000, plus restitution if appropriate for each violation.