An Indian citizen has been detained for conspiracy for visa fraud and bribing foreigners to enter the US by fraudulently obtaining H-1B visas. Federal prosecutors announced on Friday. The 48-year-old was arrested on Thursday.
According to the prosecutors, Ashish Sawhney was accused of using four companies to orchestrate the illegal filing of false applications for H-1B special-occupation visas for work.
Indicted by two charges of conspiring as well as three counts of persuading an alien to arrive. And live in the US to benefit from a commercial or personal financial gain in addition to one count of attempting fraudulent naturalization. Sawhney allegedly generated gross earnings from 2011 to 2016, which was estimated at $21 million, prosecutors claimed.
If found guilty, Sawhney faces a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.
An individual who lives in Sterling, the Virginia suburban area of Washington DC, made or caused to be provided with the H-1B visa applications. That stated the foreign workers mentioned in the application would be able to perform the requirements of a particular job when actually, there was no such job before applying the application. The prosecutors said that Sawhney also tried to become naturalized as a US citizen through an application that contained false information.