Cross-border shelling has killed at least 70 civilians, including children, rescue workers and journalists
world11 hours ago
An Indian-origin man has been charged in the US with H-1B visa and mail fraud, officials said.
Kishore Kumar Kavuru, 46, was arrested on Friday and was presented before US Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen, the US Department of Justice said in a press release.
He was charged with 10 counts of visa fraud and 10 counts of mail fraud in connection with a scheme to maintain a pool of foreign workers for the clients of Kavuru's consulting companies.
If convicted, Kavuru faces the sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 for each count of visa fraud. The defendant also faces up to 20 years in jail and $250,000 for each count of mail fraud, federal prosecutors said.
According to the indictment, Kavuru, a resident of Sunnyvale, California, held himself out as a staffing specialist for technology firms based in Santa Clara County and elsewhere seeking to fill temporary positions with foreign workers.
Since at least as early as 2007, Kavuru was the owner and Chief Executive Officer of four consulting companies -- Scopus Consulting Group, Inc.; ITECH Analyst Corp; Infinity Methods Corp; and Orian Engineers Incorporated.
The indictment described how Kavuru used the consulting companies to process and submit fraudulent applications for foreign workers to obtain permission to work in the US under the H-1B visa programme.
He was accused of submitting fraudulent documents to both the Department of Labour and the Department of Homeland Security, containing details of bogus work projects awaiting the foreign workers.
Because many of the applications were ultimately approved, Kavuru had a pool of unemployed H-1B beneficiaries that were immediately available for legitimate work projects, giving him a competitive advantage over other law-abiding staffing companies that followed the sometimes lengthy visa application process for petitioning foreign workers, according to federal prosecutors.
As part of the scheme, Kavuru required some prospective workers to pay thousands of dollars in cash before he would prepare and submit the visa applications.
Kavuru also required some workers to wait unpaid, sometimes for months, to be placed at an end-client's workplace.
Through his consulting companies, Kavuru submitted and mailed approximately 43 petitions for H-1B software engineers, the statement said.
"In fact, there were no software engineer positions available at the benefits company," federal prosecutors said.
Cross-border shelling has killed at least 70 civilians, including children, rescue workers and journalists
world11 hours ago
The hosts dominate with a total of 194 medals including 65 golds with Saudi in second place and Kuwait in third
sports11 hours ago
Residents with any information have been urged to contact the concerned authority
emergencies11 hours ago
Northeastern University in Boston says the action was taken after some protesters resorted to virulent anti-Semitic slurs
world12 hours ago
The church has been built on 4.37 acres of land, and stands opposite the BAPS Hindu temple
uae12 hours ago
A detailed guide on where to apply, the steps involved, and criteria for eligibility
uae12 hours ago
The Emirates called for strengthening the international humanitarian response and providing urgent relief to those in need
mena13 hours ago
Photonics is the study of light and has several applications including LED, VR, holograms, high-speed internet and solar panels among other things
uae13 hours ago