Sudhakar Majety, 46, of Spring City, pleaded guilty Monday to four counts of visa fraud in connection with a scheme to illegally bring more than 50 workers to the United States on H-1B visas to work as IT consultants for his company Upani Consultants.
According to authorities, Majety created a series of shell corporations and sham contracts to pretend that Upani Consultants needed the additional workers. When the workers arrived in the United States, they learned that there were no jobs for them at Upani and they were forced to search for jobs elsewhere. Some workers who could not find employment had to pay Majety additional money to keep their visas active. Majety typically charged each worker $4,000 for the visa and kept 20% of any of their earnings in the United States.
U.S. District Court Judge John R. Padova scheduled a sentencing is scheduled for February 26, 2015. Majety faces a maximum possible sentence of 40 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations and Citizenship and Immigration Services. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. Livermore.
