A man of Indian origin has been arrested in the United States under the allegation of being involved in an H-1B visa fraud worth $21 million.
The fraudster, Ashish Sawhney, has been charged with a total of six counts for bringing foreigners to the USA through fraudulent visas and attempting to live in the US under false statements himself.
Read on for more information about this H-1B visa fraud.
Indian Origin Man Arrested For H-1B Visa Fraud; Made Profits Worth $21 Million
A press statement has been released by the Department of Justice, Eastern District of Virginia, which confirms the fraud by Sterling man Sawhney and his arrest. He filed for fake H-1B visas for his company which led to his companies earning gross profits of $21 million between the period of 2011 to 2016.
The press release states, “Sawhney submitted or caused to be submitted H-1B visa application materials stating that the foreign workers named in the applications would fulfill a specific job, where in fact, no such job existed at the time of filing.”
Four companies were used by Sawhney to carry out this fraud, which includes Value Consulting, LLC, Value Software Products, Inc. (formerly known as Value Consulting, Inc.), Business Pointers, Inc., and E-Train ERP, Inc.
All these companies have their offices located in the Eastern District of Virginia and engage in managing information technology staffing and software development services for commercial clients in the United States.
Sawhney has been identified as the director or registered agent for these companies, and he has allegedly submitted applications for fraudulent H-1B visas through these companies.
Sawhney Looking At 10 Years In Prison; Charged With Six Counts Of Fraud
In addition to that, Sawhney, who is an Indian national, has been accused of naturalizing as a citizen of the USA by filing an application that includes false statements.
If convicted, the 48-year-old is looking at a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The statement says that the actual sentences for federal crimes are less than the maximum penalties typically.
To be precise, he has been charged with two counts of conspiracy, three counts of bringing in foreigners to arrive to the USA and live there for commercial advantage or private financial gain, and one count of a naturalization fraud attempt.
The fraud is being investigated by the Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force, which includes multiple agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s Office of Fraud Detection and National Security