Indian-American charged with H-1B visa, mail fraud

washington — A 46-year-old Indian-American has been arrested and charged in California on charges of H-1B visa fraud. Kishore Ku- mar Kavuru was arrested on Friday and produced before the US Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen. He was later released on bond.

Kavuru has been charged with 10 counts of visa fraud and as many counts of mail fraud in connection with a scheme to maintain a pool of foreign workers for the clients of his consulting companies. The accused faces 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 for each count of visa fraud and up to 20 years of imprisonment for each count of mail fraud.

Since 2007, Kavuru was the owner and CEO of four consulting companies. He is accused of submitting fraudulent documents to both the Department of Labour and the Department of Homeland Security, containing details of bogus work projects awaiting the foreign workers. Through his consulting companies, Kavuru submitted and mailed approximately 43 petitions for H-1B software engineers. —