Indian national arrested in USD 21 million H-1B visa fraud

This picture has been used for representation purpose only

An Indian national has been arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and for inducing foreign nationals to come to the US using fraudulently obtained H-1B visas, federal prosecutors said on Friday. Arrested on Thursday, 48-year-old Ashish Sawhney allegedly used four corporations to orchestrate the improper submission of fraudulent applications for H-1B specialty-occupation work visas, they said.

Charged with two counts of conspiracy, three counts of inducing an alien to come to and reside in the US for commercial advantage or private financial gain, and one count of attempted naturalisation fraud, Sawhney allegedly generated gross profits from 2011 to 2016 of approximately USD 21 million, the prosecutors said.

If convicted, Sawhney faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. A resident of Sterling, a Virginia suburb of Washington DC, he submitted or caused to be submitted H-1B visa application materials stating that the foreign workers named in the applications would fulfil a specific job, where in fact, no such job existed at the time of filing, the prosecutors said.

Sawhney also attempted to naturalise as a US citizen by submitting an application containing false statements, they said.

Keep scrolling to read more news

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever