Two top Indian-American executives were today arrested in the US for allegedly misrepresenting their company's finances to inflate its stock price.
Nandu Thondavadi, 62, CEO of Schaumburg-based Quadrant 4 System, and Dhru Desai, 55, its chief financial officer and chairman, were charged with wire fraud and certifying false financial reports related to two acquisitions and the settlement of a lawsuit against the company in 2013.
Thondavadi faces an additional charge of making false statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission in May during an investigation into the company's financial practices.
Both appeared in Chicago federal court to hear the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years each for wire fraud and certifying false financial reports.
The company also has its office in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad and Madurai.
Quadrant 4, which launched in 2010, provides software and consulting services to health care and education customers. The firm reported USD 52 million in revenues and a net loss of USD 516,000 for 2015, according to financial filings.
As a publicly traded company, Quadrant 4 is required to provide to the SEC on a quarterly and annual basis a detailed report of its financial condition.
Federal authorities launched an investigation of the company earlier this year based on indications that the firm's recent annual reports to the SEC contained false information, the complaint states, the Department of Justice said in a statement.
The investigation revealed that Thondavadi and Desai certified the reports even though they knew the documents did not fairly present the true financial condition of the company, according to the complaint.
Thondavadi then lied under oath when questioned by the SEC in May about some of the falsehoods, the complaint states.
Some Indians here say they are ready to move back to
India, where they can create a successful life and will be close to family as well.
Anita Kumar, the wife of an Indian database manager, is not able to work in the US since she is on an H-4 dependent visa.
Kumar says in the eventuality that her husband has to return to India, she will be able to join the workforce and focus on her career as well.
"Given the uncertain environment in the US, we cannot afford to be rigid and not think of alternatives. India now offers tremendous opportunities and we will not have to live with the perpetual uncertainty and anxiety of one day being asked to leave the country," Kumar said.
Social media like Facebook and Twitter arefull of posts from Indians living here venting their anxiety overchanges in immigration laws.
Some say their parents are expressing apprehensions overvisiting them in the summer as they fear they could face hassles at the airport at the hands of immigration officials over their faith and background.
According to the most recentreport from US Citizenship and Immigration Services, 65 per cent of H-1B visas granted in fiscal year-2014 went to workers in computer-related jobs.
Over half of those workers had advanced degrees and 72 per cent were between the ages of 25 and 34.
In recent years, the US government has received well over 300,000 H-1B applications annually; as mandated by Congress, it issues85,000a year, often by lottery.
A bulk of the H1-B visas go to Indian IT workers.
