Mandalapa sentenced to 20 months for H-1B fraud
Mandalapa sentenced to 20 months for H-1B fraud
Date: Friday, February 02, 2007 12:26 AM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 1632 -- 2/02/2007 >>>>>
Narendra Mandalapa is getting a 20 month prison sentence for H-1B and green
card fraud. His sentence is a slap on the wrist considering the immense
damage he has done.
MaineToday has done an excellent job of reporting this story, but the only
victims mentioned are the foreigners who he ripped off. What about the
Americans that lost their jobs to the fraudulent H-1B visa holders that
Mandalapa brought into this country? Many of the H-1B visas were given to
Indians and Pakistanis who had fraudulent college diplomas and faked skill
sets so it's fair to assume that there are Americans out there who lost
their jobs to liars, cheaters, and immigration scofflaws.
Very few news articles have been published about the Mandalapa sentencing
which makes me believe that the story is being deliberately downplayed by
the mainstream media. There is a common factor in all the articles -- they
avoid any mention of the damage Mandalapa has done to American workers and
possibly our national security. Are reporters really that dumb?
It appears that the Dept. of Homeland Security is making no attempt to hunt
down these criminal aliens even though they knowingly came to the U.S. with
fraudulent documents. Every foreigner that Mandalapa brought into the U.S.
should be arrested and deported but of course as we all know, immigration
laws are not taken seriously by the DHS, Congress, or the Bush
administration.
Destroying American jobs might not even be the worse thing that occurred.
If some of Mandalapa's Indian or Pakistani customers were terrorists they
now have visas that allow them to go anywhere they want in the U.S.
Hopefully none of them are working as programmers for our airport control
towers or as engineers in our nuclear power plants.
Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean got 12 years in
prison on trumped-up charges made by a drug smuggler. How can we claim to
have a just immigration system when criminals like Mandalapa gets 20 months
for defrauding our immigration system and possibly importing terrorists
into our country, while border patrol agents who are defending our borders
get harsh prison sentences?
To read more about Narendra Mandalapa check out the following newsletters
in the archive:
2006-01-25 12 Articles Worth Reading
2006-01-31 8 Articles Worth Reading
2006-09-26 Portland Herald Series Parts 1-3
The Portland Herald article below allows comments. Their three-part
investigation into H-1B visa fraud was one of the best ever written. If you
haven't read it be sure to take the time to check it out. The home page for
that investigation can be found at:
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/immigration/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/press/files/pdffiles/mand0122rel.pdf
NEWS
Assistant U.S. Attorney mand0122.rel
ADAM S. LURIE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
973-645-2749 Jan. 22, 2007
Indian National Sentenced on Immigration Fraud Charges;
Ordered to Forfeit Over $5.7 Million and Luxury Cars
(More)
2
NEWARK - An Indian national was sentenced today to 20 months in federal
prison for
immigration fraud for fraudulently assisting hundreds of immigrant aliens
to live and work
illegally in New Jersey and elsewhere in the United States, U.S. Attorney
Christopher
Christie announced.
U.S. District Court Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise also ordered Narendra
Mandalapa a/k/a
"Ramesh Dashrth," Mandalapa, 36, to forfeit more than $5.7 million and two
late model
luxury cars which represented proceeds of his crimes. Judge Debevoise fined
Mandalapa
$25,000.
Mandalapa was the owner and president of Cybersoftec, Inc., a business
consulting
company that was based in Edison during 2004 and 2005. Mandalapa was
arrested on Nov.
3, 2005 on a criminal Complaint and has been in custody since then.
On June 19, 2006, Mandalapa pleaded guilty before Judge Debevoise to one
count of
immigration fraud. He had been indicted on May 5, 2006. The Indictment
charged
Mandalapa with, among other things, attempting to fraudulently cause the
Department of
Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) to approve
at least 250
Immigrant Petitions for Alien Workers (Forms I-140) that he submitted to
CIS. An I-140 is
a petition for an alien worker to become a lawful resident in the United
States.
Mandalapa admitted that he caused the fraudulent I-140s to be submitted to
CIS on behalf
of aliens between about September 2004 through October 2005. He admitted
that with the
fraudulent I-140s, he also provided CIS with U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
Labor
Certifications that the DOL had never approved. A Labor Certification is a
document in
which DOL certifies to CIS that there are no qualified United States
workers available and
willing to accept the position sought in the Labor Certification.
Mandalapa admitted that he received up to $22,000 from aliens for the
filing of the
fraudulent I-140s and DOL Labor Certifications.
Mandalapa also admitted that he submitted a fraudulent I-140 to CIS on his
own behalf
under the assumed name Ramesh Dashrth. In doing so, Mandalapa admitted that
he
provided CIS with fraudulent Cybersoftec federal tax returns for 2003 and
2004 to
purportedly demonstrate that Cybersoftec, Inc. had the ability to pay
"Ramesh Dashrth."
In particular, those federal tax returns falsely represented that
Cybersoftec, Inc. had paid
federal income taxes during 2003 or 2004 and falsely represented that those
federal tax
returns had been filed with the IRS. In fact, Cybersoftec, Inc. failed to
pay any federal
income taxes during 2003 or 2004 and failed to file federal tax returns
during those years.
Christie credited Special Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
under the
3
direction of Special Agent in Charge Kyle Hutchins; and Special Agents of
the Office of
Inspector General, United States Department of Labor, under the direction
of Gordon S.
Heddell, with the investigation of Mandalapa. .
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam S. Lurie of the
U.S. Attorneys
Securities and Healthcare Fraud Unit in Newark..
-end-
Defense Counsel: Bruno Bier, Esq., New York, New York.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://business.mainetoday.com/news/070123mandalapa.html
Man sent to prison in worker visa fraud
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Reader Comments (below)
By MATT WICKENHEISER, Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
FOREIGN LABOR
Read the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram's investigation of the
foreign labor system. NEWARK, N.J. - An Indian national who processed
hundreds of immigration applications through Maine and New Hampshire was
sentenced Monday to 20 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count
of filing a fraudulent immigration document.
Narendra V. Mandalapa was facing a sentence of up to 46 months, but U.S.
District Court Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise said he reduced the time
because Mandalapa has helped investigators identify other potential
instances of immigration-related fraud.
Since his arrest in October 2005, Mandalapa has provided federal agencies
with a list of "entities who are doing immigration fraud," as well as
individuals doing the same, Debevoise said. Investigators have developed
five promising investigations from the list, the judge said.
However, he described Mandalapa's activity as "a particularly egregious
crime involving the exploitation of hundreds of aliens." The victims, he
said, were "in vulnerable and exposed positions."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam S. Lurie noted that Mandalapa had forged
immigration papers for more than 250 foreigners. "He caused all of those
people to work and live illegally in the United States," Lurie said.
He declined to comment on the new investigations or to discuss whether they
involved companies that had processed immigration applications through
Maine.
The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram published an investigation
last September that detailed the activities of Mandalapa's company,
Cybersoftec, and many other firms trying to bring foreign workers into the
United States.
The newspaper found that dozens of high-tech staffing companies leased
small spaces in Maine and other rural states in 2004 and early 2005 and
filed immigration papers for thousands of foreigners who were supposed to
work in the states. In many cases, the companies' connection to Maine was
tenuous, and in several instances, landlords had never heard of the
companies that called their buildings home on federal applications.
Cybersoftec claimed offices in Maine -- at 480 Congress St., Portland --
and in New Hampshire. It obtained more than 150 certifications in the two
states for H1B visas in 2004 and 2005 through the U.S. Department of Labor.
Cybersoftec also filed about 50 labor-certification applications for green
cards in Maine, according to Maine Department of Labor records.
An H1B visa lets a skilled foreigner work into the United States
temporarily; a green card lets a foreigner live and work here indefinitely.
A federal grand jury indicted Mandalapa on May 5, 2006, on 29 counts of
immigration fraud, money laundering and mail fraud related to his
applications for green cards. He pleaded guilty to the one count as part of
a plea bargain.
Mandalapa will be given credit for the 14 months he's spent in jail,
according to his attorney, Bruno C. Bier, and so will spend about six
months in prison. At that point, said Bier, he'll be sent to the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services for what are likely to be deportation
proceedings.
However, Bier said, Mandalapa could be in custody for anywhere from 12 to
24 months because the Indian consulate doesn't process the necessary
paperwork quickly, and the sentence he received Monday marks him as an
aggravated felon.
Bier had argued for even greater leniency for his client, in the hopes that
a lesser formal sentence would mean less time waiting. Most of Mandalapa's
family is in India.
None of the indictments filed against Mandalapa were for his activities in
Maine, though state labor officials had informed federal authorities that
they were suspicious of Cybersoftec.
Lurie didn't comment on Debevoise's sentence. Bier called it fair.
"I think the tragedy is that (Mandalapa) had developed a very effective
business plan and if he had gone through legal means, he would have made
himself a lot of money and created a lot of jobs and not subjected himself
to this incarceration," Bier said.
Cybersoftec did legitimately provide skilled information-technology workers
to Fortune 500 companies, Bier said. But Mandalapa also broke the law, he
said.
According to court records, the workers were willing to pay Mandalapa as
much as $22,000 each for his efforts to help them get immigration
paperwork.
Records show that agents seized $5.7 million in assets from Mandalapa's
bank and brokerage accounts, and at least $2.1 million came from fees paid
by foreigners seeking fraudulent paperwork through Cybersoftec.
Bier said Cybersoftec is no longer in business.
Staff Writer Matt Wickenheiser can be contacted at 791-6316 or at:
mwickenheiser@pressherald.com
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