Indian-origin woman HR manager convicted in H-1B visa fraud

New York : An Indian-origin human resource manager has become the third person connected with two outsourcing companies to be convicted of H-1B visa fraud in a scheme that also ripped off tech employees, according to Paul Fishman, the federal prosecutor for New Jersey.
Hiral Patel, who worked for SCM Data and MMC System, admitted her guilt before federal judge Kevin McNulty in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday, prosecutors said. She was found guilty of obstructing justice in connection with the scheme.
Patel, 32, was arrested in May.Sunila Dutt, a lawyer in Virginia, was convicted of involvement in the fraud in October.In December, Hari Karne, the immigration manager for an Indian company was found guilty in the same scheme. Prosecutors said that he was from Hyderabad and worked for SCM Private Limited in India, which had agreements with SCM Data and MMC System to provide staff. Sowrabh Sharma, the New York-based owner of the two companies was arrested in September and Shikha Mohta, 31, of Jersey City who was the head of finance for the two companies, in May and both have been charged with fraud in the scheme, according to prosecutors. The two companies recruited student visa holders or recent graduates as consultants, obtained H-1B visas meant for professionals with specialised skills and placed them with other companies requiring information technology support, according to the prosecution.