Five charged with 20,000 work visa fraud

A federal jury has found five people guilty of conspiring to obtain fraudulent work visas for nearly 90 Indian nationals in exchange for at least US 20,000 per visa...

A federal jury has found five people guilty of conspiring to obtain fraudulent work visas for nearly 90 Indian nationals in exchange for at least US 20,000 per visa,the US Attorney8217;s Office said.

Mahendrakumar Mack Patel 55,Rakesh Patel 36,Alberto Pena 38,Bernardo Pena 38 and Marte Othon Villar Sr 48 encouraged and induced the illegal immigration of Indian nationals in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars per visa,a statement from the US Attorneys Office said on Friday.

The jury found that Alberto and Bernardo Pena,twin brothers from Brownsville,along with co-defendants had encouraged and induced 87 individuals from Gujarat to unlawfully enter US on temporary H-2B visas,knowing that the Indian nationals did not intend to work for the company that was used to get visas for them.

The brothers also knew that the visa-seekers did not intend to return to India when their 10-month visas expired,a statement said.

Pena twins also travelled to India to assist the Indian nationals with the application process and visited and corresponded with the US Consulate in Mumbai.

Two other co-defendants Mack Patel of Ft Worth and Rakesh Patel,a Houston pharmacist pleaded guilty for recruiting Indian citizens who were willing to pay 20,000 to 60,000 in exchange for visas to enter the United States.None of the Indian nationals were ever worked at the construction company for which they were recruited. They also collected collected payments for the visas in the form of cash as well as cashier8217;s checks and money orders from immigrants after their arrival in Houston. The scheme generated an estimated 1.8 million in profit for the conspirators.

An H-2B visa allows US employers to hire foreign workers for temporary non-agricultural work if the employer shows that there are no qualified US workers to perform the jobs.