Mar 23, 2013
H1B Visa Immigration Fraud Scheme
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – An Indian national pleaded guilty Wednesday for his role in a conspiracy to violate U.S. laws by filing fraudulent immigration documents and related offenses following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Phani Raju Bhima Raju, 41, of Charlotte, pleaded guilty to five federal charges ranging from conspiracy to violate U.S. laws to money laundering conspiracy for his participation in a fraudulent scheme to obtain false H-1B immigration visas for foreign workers. The H-1B visa program allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in designated specialty occupations.
According to filed court documents, beginning in 2006 and through November 2012, Raju executed a fraudulent scheme to defraud the United States by submitting materially false documents to obtain H-1B immigration visas for foreign nationals seeking employment in the U.S. Raju was the president of iFuturistics, a Delaware company with headquarters in Pineville, N.C. Court records show that Raju and others falsely represented to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) that iFuturistics was hiring H-1B visa holders to work directly for the company. Contrary to the statements made on DOL and USCIS forms submitted by iFuturistics, when the applicants were granted H-1B visas they were placed in work locations with various companies throughout the U.S. In fact, as court records show, iFuturistics had entered into lucrative contracts with staffing agencies prior to submitting the fraudulent forms claiming the skilled IT workers would be employed at iFuturistics' headquarters in Pineville. Court documents show that as a result of Raju's illegal visa scheme iFuturistics received $13.2 million as payment from staffing companies in the U.S.
As part of his plea agreement, Raju has admitted that he submitted false documentation to DOL and USCIS and that he made materially false statements on the relevant forms in order to obtain approval of the H-1B immigration visas. In addition to filing fraudulent paperwork, Raju and others engaged in an illegal scheme to recruit, solicit, entice and hire individuals outside the U.S. to apply for H-1B visas and to obtain work in the U.S. Court records show that Raju gave the H-1B visa applicants a "cheat sheet" of questions and answers to assist them during their interview process to obtain the H-1B visas. Court records indicate that Raju and his co-conspirators at times failed to find employment for the H-1B visa workers the company had recruited to work in the U.S. On those occasions, court records indicate, these workers were "benched" in the U.S. while waiting for another job assignment. While they were benched, and contrary to the salary claims made in the application forms, these workers received little or no pay from iFuturistics. On one occasion, court documents show, a foreign national H-1B
visa holder had paid $2,500 to iFuturistics as a security deposit for processing her H-1B visa.
According to the contract between iFuturistics and the employee, the employee was promised an annual salary of $60,000 and had agreed to the company's request to market her services for employment throughout the U.S. In the end, iFuturistics never provided the worker with any work assignments and failed to pay her any wages. Filed documents also indicate that in November 2009, Raju and others attempted to hide their fraudulent activities from law enforcement and immigration agents during a scheduled inspection visit of the company's Pineville offices. In anticipation of the visit, Raju and others had set up work stations, moved in furniture and recruited several persons to pretend to be iFuturistics workers for the duration of the inspection visit, when, in fact, the office space prior to the site visit had been empty and unoccupied. When law enforcement and immigration agents returned to the company's offices a month after the site visit, the office space was dark and unoccupied, as it had been prior to the planned inspection.
Raju was charged with and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate United States laws, which carries a maximum prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine; one count of presenting fraudulent immigration documents, which carries a maximum prison term of 10 years and a $250,000 fine; one count of hiring at least 10 unauthorized aliens within a one year period, which carries a maximum prison term of five years and a $250,000 fine; one count of hiring recruiting, and referring for a
fee for employment an unauthorized alien, which carries a maximum prison term of six months and a $100,000 fine; and one count f money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison and a fine not to exceed the value of the
funds involved. In addition, Raju has agreed to pay restitution to any victims harmed by his fraudulent conduct.
The final restitution amount will be determined by the court. Raju has been in federal custody since December 2012. A sentencing date has not been set. The investigation was handled by HSI and DOL. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Smith of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte.
H1B Visa Immigration Fraud Scheme by Indian Origin Man Alleged
An Indian origin businessman allegedly involved in an alleged H1B immigration visa fraud scheme. Surprise, surprise, Not. Many Asian Indians in the US and elsewhere are not unfamiliar with the feeling that these kinds of schemes go on in a few Indian cities involving a few/several Indian IT companies.
Get one IT employee for a reduced price and get a second employee for half the price, which for-profit corporation, would not like considering this package? This is body shopping. Fair quality work performed by a large supply of young non-unionized Indian citizens at low Indian prices (at will work at low wages and no additional benefits, open ended work hours, a $ucked up legal system in India, little or no legal recourse in India or the employer's country), this is an ideal perennial high yield labor-gold mine for any for-profit international corporation. Simply put, its corporate head honchos from one hemisphere harvesting an another human in the opposite hemisphere for fulfillment of wants and profit. It has less to do, if anything at all, with unavailability of qualified workers in the US or any other country.
Cheap labor aka wage slaves and consumers in countries like China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and South East Asian countries will continue to attract international corporations for several years to come. Water flows from higher to lower pressure, jobs flow from higher to lower wages. This is not in the interest of a job seeking American, on the other side, American corporations are entitled to pursue profit by shipping jobs overseas where they have a higher chance of making higher money. This is American capitalism aka profit system folks. Globalization nonsense has taken away food from the dining tables of American children under the mask of whatever BS they can come up with. Recently someone compared H1B workers in California to an "infestation", how the fook is this okay? I love the USA and I don't want it to become India.
It happened over about 6 years and involved 13 million dollars, 13 million dollars!!! This SOB should have made atleast 30 million in 6 years screwing desperate fellow countrymen. 13, that turned out to be unlucky for Phaniraju Bhimaraju. Someone shock me by advising me that his origin is from the State of Andhra Pradesh in India. It is noted that on March 22, 2013, Julie Rose of WFAE, reports in her article titled Charlotte Businessman Pleads Guilty to Immigration Fraud Scheme that a Charlotte resident pleaded guilty in federal court this week to running an immigration scheme that parlayed hundreds of temporary work visas into profits of $13.2 million.
Imtiaz Muqbil writes,
During the six month period from March through August 2009, Mission India’s consular sections identified a total of 3,596 cases of suspected visa fraud (Chennai – 1,237, New Delhi – 949, Mumbai – 809, Hyderabad – 523, Kolkata – 78). 5. Most of India’s fraudulent applicants come from specific and easily defined regional areas within each consular district.
“These states have some of the most mobile populations in India and the largest concentrations of expatriate communities overseas, including in the United States. In New Delhi, cases originating from the Punjab comprise the majority of its IV (Immigrant Visa) and fraud caseloads, while the same can be said in Mumbai with Gujarat. Chennai and Hyderabad’s fraud workload comes principally from Andhra Pradesh.”
It says that “B1/B2 visa fraud is the most commonplace. Regionally-based fraud rings throughout the country, but especially in Hyderabad, continue to produce fraudulent documents for visa application and travel purposes. Some visa “consultants” and travel agents specialize in fraudulent experience letters and fake document packages, which include passport copies of false relatives, bogus financial documents, and affidavits of support.”
Get one IT employee for a reduced price and get a second employee for half the price, which for-profit corporation, would not like considering this package? This is body shopping. Fair quality work performed by a large supply of young non-unionized Indian citizens at low Indian prices (at will work at low wages and no additional benefits, open ended work hours, a $ucked up legal system in India, little or no legal recourse in India or the employer's country), this is an ideal perennial high yield labor-gold mine for any for-profit international corporation. Simply put, its corporate head honchos from one hemisphere harvesting an another human in the opposite hemisphere for fulfillment of wants and profit. It has less to do, if anything at all, with unavailability of qualified workers in the US or any other country.
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| H1 B Visas by Company US and Indian |
It happened over about 6 years and involved 13 million dollars, 13 million dollars!!! This SOB should have made atleast 30 million in 6 years screwing desperate fellow countrymen. 13, that turned out to be unlucky for Phaniraju Bhimaraju. Someone shock me by advising me that his origin is from the State of Andhra Pradesh in India. It is noted that on March 22, 2013, Julie Rose of WFAE, reports in her article titled Charlotte Businessman Pleads Guilty to Immigration Fraud Scheme that a Charlotte resident pleaded guilty in federal court this week to running an immigration scheme that parlayed hundreds of temporary work visas into profits of $13.2 million.
So a Charlotte man named Phani Raju Bhima Raju set up shop as a middleman. He recruited people from his native India – and other countries - to allegedly work for his Pineville tech company called iFuturistics.
In reality, Raju was farming those workers out to companies across the country and making a handy profit of over $13 million.
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| Phaniraju Bhimaraju of Charlotte North Carolina, arrest dated Nov 28, 2012 |
That was over a period of six years ending last November when Raju got caught. In one episode straight out of a con-man movie, Raju got word that Immigration was coming to check on all the H-1B workers he claimed to have in Pineville, so he filled an empty office with fake employees and new computers to throw inspectors off the scent. A month later, the investigators came back to find the same office dark and deserted.
Spradlin won't say how Raju's fraud was ultimately discovered, but court documents indicate at least one woman complained to authorities after coming to the U.S. for the promise of a $60,000 job, only to be given no work and no reimbursement of her $2,500 security deposit.
"That's another common thing that we see referred to as 'benching' where these people don't actually work and they're paying to take a position that they're not actually being given," says Spradlin.
Imtiaz Muqbil writes,
During the six month period from March through August 2009, Mission India’s consular sections identified a total of 3,596 cases of suspected visa fraud (Chennai – 1,237, New Delhi – 949, Mumbai – 809, Hyderabad – 523, Kolkata – 78). 5. Most of India’s fraudulent applicants come from specific and easily defined regional areas within each consular district.
“These states have some of the most mobile populations in India and the largest concentrations of expatriate communities overseas, including in the United States. In New Delhi, cases originating from the Punjab comprise the majority of its IV (Immigrant Visa) and fraud caseloads, while the same can be said in Mumbai with Gujarat. Chennai and Hyderabad’s fraud workload comes principally from Andhra Pradesh.”
It says that “B1/B2 visa fraud is the most commonplace. Regionally-based fraud rings throughout the country, but especially in Hyderabad, continue to produce fraudulent documents for visa application and travel purposes. Some visa “consultants” and travel agents specialize in fraudulent experience letters and fake document packages, which include passport copies of false relatives, bogus financial documents, and affidavits of support.”
Tips and Do's and Don't for Women for India Travel
TIPS AND DO'S AND DON'T FOR WOMEN FOR TRAVEL IN INDIA
Carry a pepper spray and a taser, after checking with law enforcement, airline and immigration authorities.
Carry a whistle on your keychain.
Carry a personal alarm on your key chain or a lanyard.
Find out the phone number of your hotel in India and enter it in your cellphone even before you land in India.
Prepaid cellphones are inexpensive in India, buy one soon after you land in India.
Contact the hotel prior to your arrival in India and find out the names of reliable transportation providers.
Ask your Indian hotel or guesthouse to book a taxi or auto-rickshaw for transfers to bus and rail stations. The hotel staff is likely to know a reliable taxi or auto-rickshaw company and drivers.
Women should not wear skin hugging trousers in India.
Drink boiled water or you will be shitting several times a day for days or weeks before ending up in a hospital with questionable standards.
Use the pre-paid taxi counters at Indian airports and pay up for air-conditioned vehicles.
Even if you don't have a hotel booked, behave as if you do. Ask to be dropped off somewhere in particular and take it from there.
Make sure your room has a proper bolt on the inside of the door. Travel with a rubber doorstop to foil intruders.
Most Indian cities seem to have a growing problem with eve-teasing so use the women-only carriage on the metro and lines for tickets etc.
Stay off the street after dark. Do what Indian women do, take a taxi or rickshaw to a restaurant as Indian women do.
Public toilets will stink, deal with it. Keep a hand sanitizer.
To avoid hawkers, wear sunglasses and keep walking. Throw in a firm NO when necessary.
Females, specially white women, must never never travel alone in India at any time of the day.
Do not wear skimpy or revealing clothing. This includes spaghetti strap tops, long see-through cotton skirts and shorts. Again, no shorts for women in India even though the climate may call for it.
Do not even think about showing any side bra, cleavage or side boob.
Less makeup is better, it wont run off because of the heat. Its safer too.
Beware of pickpockets.
Secure your handbag properly positioning it on your hips and not to the sides around the shoulder.
Walk in front of your boyfriend or husband so that he can keep an eye on you. Ask your boyfriend or hubby to grow a mohawk and color it in red before your visit to India!
Wear a bra or even better, a bro. Less is safe, skip the padded bra.
Do not wear high heels. Go with sneakers. You want to be able to run if you get into trouble.
Cover your butt with a long shirt. A sleeved shirt is safer than a sleeveless shirt, it will keep the mosquitoes and Indian men away.
Do not be too friendly with Indian men who approach you at tourist sights or with hotel staff. Instead strike up conversations with the Indian women. Ask women for directions instead of men.
Do not confront ogling Indian males. It is seen as a come-on. Instead avert your eyes down and away. This signals that you have no interest in further interaction.
Do not accept alcoholic drinks from strangers in India. To be safe, do not accept any food or drinks from strangers.
Indian women rarely drink or smoke in public - even in hotel bars - so beware of any man who invites you to do so.
Do not walk in the Indian countryside on your own. If you must, always have a mobile at hand and a speed-dial number to call for help. Use it - even to make a fake call - as soon as you start feeling uncomfortable.
Do not ever wear thongs or skimpy bikinis to Indian beaches. Wear a one piece that covers your lady parts and then some.
Do not chat up skull cap wearing Indian men with long longish beards if you are white.
Finally, ask yourself, must you visit India, really?
 |
| Tips, do's and dont's for women for India travel |
Carry a whistle on your keychain.
Carry a personal alarm on your key chain or a lanyard.
Find out the phone number of your hotel in India and enter it in your cellphone even before you land in India.
Prepaid cellphones are inexpensive in India, buy one soon after you land in India.
Contact the hotel prior to your arrival in India and find out the names of reliable transportation providers.
Ask your Indian hotel or guesthouse to book a taxi or auto-rickshaw for transfers to bus and rail stations. The hotel staff is likely to know a reliable taxi or auto-rickshaw company and drivers.
Women should not wear skin hugging trousers in India.
Drink boiled water or you will be shitting several times a day for days or weeks before ending up in a hospital with questionable standards.
Use the pre-paid taxi counters at Indian airports and pay up for air-conditioned vehicles.
Even if you don't have a hotel booked, behave as if you do. Ask to be dropped off somewhere in particular and take it from there.
Make sure your room has a proper bolt on the inside of the door. Travel with a rubber doorstop to foil intruders.
Most Indian cities seem to have a growing problem with eve-teasing so use the women-only carriage on the metro and lines for tickets etc.
Stay off the street after dark. Do what Indian women do, take a taxi or rickshaw to a restaurant as Indian women do.
Public toilets will stink, deal with it. Keep a hand sanitizer.
To avoid hawkers, wear sunglasses and keep walking. Throw in a firm NO when necessary.
Females, specially white women, must never never travel alone in India at any time of the day.
Do not wear skimpy or revealing clothing. This includes spaghetti strap tops, long see-through cotton skirts and shorts. Again, no shorts for women in India even though the climate may call for it.
Do not even think about showing any side bra, cleavage or side boob.
Less makeup is better, it wont run off because of the heat. Its safer too.
Beware of pickpockets.
Secure your handbag properly positioning it on your hips and not to the sides around the shoulder.
Walk in front of your boyfriend or husband so that he can keep an eye on you. Ask your boyfriend or hubby to grow a mohawk and color it in red before your visit to India!
Wear a bra or even better, a bro. Less is safe, skip the padded bra.
Do not wear high heels. Go with sneakers. You want to be able to run if you get into trouble.
Cover your butt with a long shirt. A sleeved shirt is safer than a sleeveless shirt, it will keep the mosquitoes and Indian men away.
Do not be too friendly with Indian men who approach you at tourist sights or with hotel staff. Instead strike up conversations with the Indian women. Ask women for directions instead of men.
Do not confront ogling Indian males. It is seen as a come-on. Instead avert your eyes down and away. This signals that you have no interest in further interaction.
Do not accept alcoholic drinks from strangers in India. To be safe, do not accept any food or drinks from strangers.
Indian women rarely drink or smoke in public - even in hotel bars - so beware of any man who invites you to do so.
Do not walk in the Indian countryside on your own. If you must, always have a mobile at hand and a speed-dial number to call for help. Use it - even to make a fake call - as soon as you start feeling uncomfortable.
Do not ever wear thongs or skimpy bikinis to Indian beaches. Wear a one piece that covers your lady parts and then some.
Do not chat up skull cap wearing Indian men with long longish beards if you are white.
Finally, ask yourself, must you visit India, really?
Mar 1, 2013
Shiva Vishnu Temple (Cleveland, Ohio) Classes
Shiva Vishnu Temple Classes for Asian Indian Hindus by clevelandasianindian
Shiva Vishnu Temple in Parma presents classes in carnatic music, hindi, hinduism, telugu, kathak, bharatanatyam and kuchipudi at Patel Hall located in the basement of the temple.
Shiva Vishnu Temple in Parma presents classes in carnatic music, hindi, hinduism, telugu, kathak, bharatanatyam and kuchipudi at Patel Hall located in the basement of the temple.
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