Co-conspirator Shikha Mohta was charged last year.
An Indian American IT recruiter based in New Jersey, Sowrabh Sharma, was arrested on Monday on the charges of H-1B visa fraud.
Sharma, 31, of New York, along with Shikha Mohta, 33, of Jersey City, New Jersey, head of finance for the companies, SCM Data and MMC Systems have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and to obstruct justice and one count of conspiracy to harbor aliens, according to the Justice Department.
Sharma is scheduled to make his initial appearance later in the day before Judge Cathy L Waldor in Newark federal court. Mohta was previously arrested in May, 2015 on a criminal complaint and was released on a $100,000 bond.
Prosecutors said SCM Data, MMC Systems, Sharma, Mohta and other conspirators recruited foreign workers with purported IT expertise who sought work in the United States. They then sponsored foreign workers H-1B visas with the stated purpose of working for SCM Data and MMC Systems’ clients throughout the United States.
“When submitting the visa paperwork to USCIS, the conspirators falsely represented that the foreign workers had full-time positions and were paid an annual salary, as required to secure the H-1B visas,” prosecutors said, They alleged that contrary to these representations and in violation of the H-1B program, SCM Data, MMC Systems, Sharma, Mohta and others paid the foreign workers only when they were placed at a third-party client who entered into a contract with SCM Data or MMC Systems.
The visa fraud and obstruction of justice conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The alien harboring conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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Sowrabh Sharma CEO MMC Systems Inc, SCM Data Inc, Tek Erp LLC, Compuga Inc, tech analysts Inc and Board of Directors of LanceSoft, Inc Arrested
Company Name: LanceSoft, Inc.
NAME: SOWRABH SHARMA
TITLE: DIRECTOR
ADDRESS: 13454 SUNRISE VALLEY DR STE 120
CITY/ST/ZIP/CO: HERNDON, VA 20171
Business owner, 2 firms face visa fraud charges
NEWARK, N.J. – Federal prosecutors in New Jersey said Monday the part-owner of two information technology firms and an
employee fraudulently used a visa program to reduce skilled labor costs.
Sharma was arrested Monday and was scheduled to make his initial court appearance later in the day.
Prosecutors filed conspiracy charges against Sowrabh Sharma, of New York; his two firms, Jersey City-based SCM Data and
MMC Systems, of Ashburn, Virginia; and Shikha Mohta, a Jersey City man who is head of finance for both companies.
It’s not known if he has an attorney who could comment on the accusations.
Mohta was arrested in May 2015 and remains free on a $100,000 bond.
In a statement, prosecutors said the companies offered consultants to clients in need of IT support. The firms recruited
foreign nationals, often student visa holders or recent college graduates, and sponsored them for H-1B visas.
The H-1B program allows businesses in the United States to temporarily employ foreign workers with specialized or
technical expertise in a particular field, such as accounting, engineering or computer science.
The defendants and other conspirators recruited foreign workers with purported IT expertise who sought work in the
United States, prosecutors said. The conspirators then sponsored the foreign workers’ H-1B visas with the stated
purpose of working for Sharma’s two companies.
Prosecutors said the conspirators falsely represented that the foreign workers had full-time positions and were paid an
annual salary. They said the workers were only paid when placed at a third-party client and the defendants sometimes
generated false payroll records.
When federal officials launched an audit of Sharma’s firms, the defendants allegedly provided fabricated leave or
vacation slips for the time periods that the foreign workers were not working, to conceal that they were not paid as
required by federal law.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud and obstruct justice and conspiracy to harbor aliens.
They face up to 15 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
Sowrabh Sharma has committed so many illegal activities to make quick buck. He pay less that 50% of the billing to OPT candidates and he will charge the candidates for filing H1B and Green Cards to the candidates. He runs payroll for OPT candidates and takes cash so that he does not have to pay higher taxes on the Profits he is making, he has moved lot of money to other countries and showed it as expenses, prime motive for moving money out of US is to evade taxes.
Sowrabh Sharma also owns many other companies in different states (California, Colorado, Texas, etc) why USCIS not considering those companies?
http://www.bbb.org/…/tekerp-llc-in-san-diego-ca-172005659/
Tekerp LLC
Phone: (619) 819-5058
450 B St #850, San Diego, CA 92101
info@tekerp.com
http://www.tekerp.com
Business Management
Sowrabh Sharma, Owner
Contact Information
Principal: Sowrabh Sharma, Owner