Four Indian-American executives from two IT staffing companies have
been arrested on charges of fraudulently using the H-1B visa programme
to gain an unfair advantage over their competitors, a US attorney has
said.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to
employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require
theoretical or technical expertise.
Vijay Mane, 39, Venkataramana Mannam, 47, and Fernando Silva, 53,
from New Jersey while Sateesh Vemuri, 52, from California were each
charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud,
the Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
Mr Vemuri made his initial appearance on July 1 before the US
Magistrate Judge Steven C Mannion in Newark federal court while Mr
Mannam and Mr Silva appeared before the US Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn
Wettre in Newark federal court on June 25. Mane appeared before Judge
Wettre on June 27.
All were released on $250,000 bond, the Department of Justice said.
The conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to the Department of Justice, Mr Mane, Mr Mannam, and Mr
Vemuri controlled two IT staffing companies-- Procure Professionals Inc
and Krypto IT Solutions Inc-- located in Middlesex County, New Jersey.
Similarly, Mr Silva and Mr Mannam also controlled another New Jersey
staffing company, referred to in the complaint as "Client A."
They used Procure and Krypto to recruit foreign nationals and sponsor
them for H-1B visas, which allow recipients to live and work
temporarily in the US in positions requiring specialised skills.
To expedite their visa applications, the defendants caused Procure
and Krypto to file H-1B applications falsely asserting that the foreign
worker/beneficiaries had already secured positions at Client A, when, in
reality, no such positions existed, federal prosecutors alleged.
Instead, they used these fraudulent applications to build a "bench"
of job candidates already admitted to the United States, who could then
be hired out immediately to client companies without the need to wait
through the visa application process, giving the defendants an advantage
over their competitors in the staffing industry.
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