Two Indian-origin men pleaded guilty in the H-1B scam in California, where they promised people jobs at the University of California – and fooled both the beneficiaries and USCIS.

Two Indian-origin men have pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit H-1B visa fraud where they hired foreign nationals at the University of California by promising them jobs when the university had no such requirement. Sampath Rajidi, 51, and Sridhar Mada, 51, submitted H-1B visa petitions for multiple beneficiaries between June 2020 and January 2023. After these petitions were approved, both of them gave these H-1Bs to other customers. Sampath Rajidi operated two visa servicing companies, S-Team Software Inc. and Uptrend Technologies LLC. Maada’s position as Chief Information Officer of the California University of Agriculture and Natural Resources helped the duo plan this fraud. MADA had inside information about the university and had supervisory authority but could not hire H-1B workers for his department without permission from higher officials. But as part of the conspiracy, Mada supplied his name and position on H-1B petitions, leading USCIS to believe that he was actually recruiting for the university. Court documents claimed they both knew the positions listed in the petitions did not exist and supplied H-1Bs to other clients. “They submitted false information knowing that such information was material to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) visa granting decisions. As a result of their conspiracy, Rajidi and Mada gained an unfair advantage over other companies and depleted the pool of H-1B visas available to competing companies,” court documents state. Both defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The administration has launched a crackdown against H-1B visa abuse, in what has turned out to be a complex operation involving fraud at multiple levels. Some staffing companies like Sampath take money from H-1Bs while others take regular cuts in their payouts. Some scams run on fake promises where beneficiaries do not get the jobs they were promised.