Major H-1B visa racket unearthed in US; 11 arrested

13 Feb 2009, 1558 hrs IST, PTI

WASHINGTON: US federal authorities have claimed to have unearthed a major H-1B visa racket with the arrest of at least 11 persons, most of them suspected to be of Indian origin.

Though the officials did not reveal the citizenship of those arrested, the names released indicated that almost all of them are either Indian or persons of Indian origin.

Vision Systems Group, an IT company headquartered in South Plainfield New Jersey, has been indicted on 10 federal counts including conspiracy and mail fraud charge. Viswa Mandalapu, is its CEO and President, according to the information available on the company’s website.

US Attorney Matthew Whitker alleged that Vision Systems Group, with a branch office in Coon Rapids, Iowa, used fraudulent documents to bring H-1B visa workers into the country, he was addressing a press conference at Des Moines, Iowa.

The Government is seeking the forfeiture of USD 7.4 million in proceeds raised through the alleged offenses. “This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as this investigation goes,” he said.

Besides Vision System Groups, at least five other companies are under investigations because of their alleged visa fraud. Two of them Worldwide Software Services and Sana Systems are based in Iowa.

Source: Economic Times