December 27, 2024 06:17 pm (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Manmohan Singh will be remembered as a kind person, a learned economist, and a leader dedicated to reforms: PM Modi | Russian ambassador to India Denis Alipov grieves Manmohan Singh's demise | Mumbai terror attack shook Manmohan Singh badly, recalls former deputy NSA | I have lost a mentor and guide: Rahul Gandhi writes on Manmohan Singh's demise | Manmohan Singh left strong imprint on our economic policy over years: PM Modi | A rare leader who spoke softly but achieved monumental strides: Gautam Adani mourns Manmohan Singh's death | Instagram influencer and freelance RJ Simran Singh dies by suicide in Gurugram | Anna University sexual assault case: Accused is a DMK worker, claims BJP's Annamalai | Celebrities too responsible for crowd control: Telangana CM Revanth Reddy to Telugu filmdom amid Pushpa 2 stampede row | Boat capsizes off Calangute Beach in Goa; 1 killed, 20 rescued
H1B Visa
Image: Pixabay

Indian American tech company admits to H1-B visa fraud involving Indians

| @indiablooms | Jun 01, 2021, at 05:26 pm

An Indian-American technology company has admitted to committing fraud to bring Indians on the coveted H1-B visas to the US, according to a federal prosecutor.

Jomon Chakkalakkal, the corporate representative of Cloudgen, made the admission before a federal court in Houston, Texas, on behalf of the company on Friday, said acting federal Prosecutor Jennifer B. Lowery.

The prosecutor's office in a news release circulated on Monday described the scam as a “bench and switch” ruse.

It said that under the scam, in order to obtain the H1-B visas Cloudgen submitted “forged contracts” showing that third companies had work for the persons it wanted to bring over.

But once the employees came to the US there was no job for them and they were housed in different locations across the US while Cloudgen would try to find work for them, according to the office.

“Such action gave Cloudgen a competitive advantage by having a steady 'bench' or supply of visa-ready workers to send to different employers based on market needs when the true process actually takes some time. Once workers had obtained new employment, the 'switch' would occur when the new third-party company filed immigration paperwork for the foreign workers,” the prosecutor's office said.

Cloudgen took a percentage of the worker's salary, which amounted to nearly $500,000 from 2013 to 2020 when the scam took place, it said.

Chief Judge Lee Rosenthal of the Southern Texas federal court is to impose a sentence in September and it could be a fine of as much as $1 million and probation for five years.

The prosecutor's office said that Cloudgen was based in Houston, but on its website, the company lists an address in Manassas in Virginia. It also shows offices in Hyderabad, Canada and Romania.

Chakkalakkal is described on the website as the senior vice president for sales.

(By South Asia Monitor/IBNS)

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.