A 49-year-old Indian-origin man has been charged in the US with fraud and aggravated identity theft for obtaining two H-1B visas by false immigration documents.
According to the indictment, Abhijit Prasad filed 31 petitions for H-1B nonimmigrant visas containing false statements, made under penalty of perjury, as to purported work projects to be performed at various locations in California.
The indictment further alleges that Prasad obtained two H-1B visas procured by fraud and false statements, and used the means of identification of a real person to effectuate his visa fraud scheme.
The federal grand jury returned a 33-count indictment yesterday against Prasad of Tracy, California, charging him with 31 counts of visa fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft, United States Attorney Phillip A Talbert announced.
The prosecution is the result of an investigation led by the US Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service's representative to the Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force (DBFTF), overseen by the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations.
The DBFTF is a multi-agency task force that coordinates investigations into fraudulent immigration documents. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service's Office of Fraud Detection and National Security also assisted with the investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Nirav Desai is prosecuting the case.
On December 23, 2016, the defendant was arraigned on the indictment and released with conditions, including the surrender of his passport and a bond until a further detention hearing. The defendant's next appearance is on December 28, 2016, before a US Magistrate Judge.
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum statutory penalty of ten (10) years on each visa fraud count, and a USD 250,000 fine. He faces a two-year mandatory, consecutive sentence on the aggravated identity theft counts, as well as a USD 250,000 fine.
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