Two men of Indian origin residing in the United States admitted to organizing an operation that lasted for several years H-1B visa fraud scheme, according to the US Department of Justice. Sampath Rajidi and Sridhar Madha, both 51, used fake job offers linked to the University of California to secure work permits for foreign nationals.
The two men are residents Dublin, California, pleaded guilty Thursday to visa fraud, according to U.S. Attorney Eric Grant. They face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. $2.33 Crores) fine.
Court documents show Al-Rajaidi operated two visa services companies, S-Team Software Inc and Uptrend Technologies LLC, through which he sponsored foreign workers for H-1B specialty occupation visas.
Mada served as chief information officer at the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) in Davis, a position that gave him supervisory authority but did not allow him to hire H-1B workers independently.
The duo conspired to file fraudulent H-1B petitions for multiple beneficiaries between 2020 and 2023. Prosecutors said Al-Rajaidi falsely claimed in applications that workers would be hired for roles at UCLA, while Mada provided his name and official title to make the claims appear credible.
The fake submissions included informational materials for decisions made by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). It allowed defendants to gain an unfair advantage over competing companies while reducing the pool of H-1B visas available to legitimate applicants.
Investigators found that the jobs listed on the petitions did not exist and that the recipients had never worked on any UC projects. The Ministry of Justice statement said that after obtaining visas based on false information, the accused marketed these workers to other clients.
Rajidi and Mada are scheduled to be sentenced on July 30 by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley.
