Telugu Techie Faces 14-month Jail In US For H-1B Visa Fraud
For visa fraud, the owner of a technology employment company in San Jose was given a 14-month prison sentence.
A San Jose-based technology employment agency owner was sentenced to 14 months in prison for visa fraud in the United States. The 55-year-old co-owner and operator of Nanosemantics Inc., Kishore Dattapuram, was charged in February 2019 with ten counts of substantive visa fraud and one count of conspiracy to conduct visa fraud, along with two other defendants. Kishore Dattapuram was a co-owner and operator of a San Jose-based employment company that supplied qualified workers to Bay Area tech companies. For employees assigned to client companies, Nanosemantics was paid a commission. To grant temporary authorisation for foreign workers to reside and work for businesses in the United States, Nanosemantics often filed H-1B petitions.
According to a statement issued on April 21, by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, he entered a guilty plea to all charges in November of last year. The prosecution claimed that Nanosemantics was paid commissions for each employee it was able to put in Bay Area tech firms.
related stories
- Aaj Ka Panchang, April 25, 2025: Tithi, Vrat And Today’s Shubh, Ashubh Muhurat
- Kesari 2 Director Says Sardar Udham Was His ‘Guiding Light’: ‘Vicky Lent So Much Seriousness’ | Exclusive
- ‘Kashmir Saw Such Turmoil’: Emraan Hashmi After Ground Zero Had Srinagar Premiere Last Week | Exclusive
- Jailed Imran Khan Looks To Build Pressure On Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir With 6-Point Plan | Exclusive
On behalf of international employees, the firm filed H-1B visa petitions, granting them temporary permission to reside and work in the United States.
To obtain an H-1B visa, companies must submit an I-129 petition to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) attesting to the existence of a legitimate work offer and including important information such as the job’s duration and related pay.
Authorities believe Kishore Dattapuram and two other individuals conspired to submit H-1B applications that made fraudulent claims that foreign workers had employment lined up with particular end-client companies that did not actually exist.
“On multiple occasions, Dattapuram paid companies to falsely appear as end-clients for foreign workers, knowing those workers would never actually be employed there," said prosecutors as quoted by greatandhra.com.
“The goal of the scheme was to secure H-1B visas for candidates before jobs were confirmed, allowing Nanosemantics to quickly place them once real opportunities arose, giving the company an unfair advantage over competitors," the prosecutors added.
Apart from his jail term, Kishore Dattapuram was mandated to complete three years of closely monitored release. A $1,100 special assessment fee, a $7,500 fine, and a forfeiture of $125,456.48 are also required of him.
- Location :
- First Published: