Indian-Americans arrested in US for H-1B visa fraud

Washington: Four Indian-American executives of two IT staffing companies have been arrested in the US on charges of fraudulently using the H-1B visa programme to gain an “unfair advantage” over their competitors, the Justice Department has announced, amidst a crackdown on the popular visa programme by the Trump administration.

The H-1B visa is a



non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Vijay Mane, 39, Venkataramana Mannam, 47, and Fernando Silva, 53, from New Jersey while Sateesh Vemuri, 52, from California were each charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud.