Indian-Origin Men Plead Guilty to H-1B Visa Fraud in the US
Ghost jobs, real visas: How two Indian-origin men committed H-1B fraud in the US
Hindustan Times
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Sampath Rajidi and Sreedhar Mada, both 51 and residents of Dublin, California, admitted to a multi-year H-1B visa fraud scheme involving fake job offers linked to the University of California. They face up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for their actions, which undermined legitimate visa applicants.
- 01Sampath Rajidi and Sreedhar Mada orchestrated an H-1B visa fraud scheme.
- 02They used fake job offers linked to the University of California.
- 03Both men face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
- 04The fraudulent petitions were submitted between 2020 and 2023.
- 05Investigators found that the claimed positions did not exist.
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Sampath Rajidi and Sreedhar Mada, both 51 and based in Dublin, California, have pleaded guilty to orchestrating a multi-year H-1B visa fraud scheme, as announced by the US Justice Department. The two men used fake job offers linked to the University of California to secure work permits for foreign nationals. Rajidi operated two visa service companies, S-Team Software Inc and Uptrend Technologies LLC, which sponsored foreign workers for H-1B specialty occupation visas. Mada, serving as Chief Information Officer at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) in Davis, lent his name to the fraudulent applications, which falsely claimed that workers would be employed at the university. The scheme, which ran from 2020 to 2023, not only provided the accused with an unfair advantage over legitimate firms but also reduced the availability of H-1B visas for genuine applicants. Investigators confirmed that the positions listed in the petitions were non-existent and that the beneficiaries never worked on any University of California projects. Rajidi and Mada are set to be sentenced on July 30 by US District Judge Troy L Nunley.
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This case highlights the risks of visa fraud, which can affect legitimate applicants seeking employment in the US.
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