Raju Kosuri, Visa Fraud Scheme, Virginia 2011

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – In a brazen scheme to exploit India’s skilled workforce, Ashburn residents Raju Kosuri, 44, and his spouse Smriti Jharia, 45, were indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday for their roles in a $20 million visa fraud operation involving over 800 Indian workers.

According to the indictment, Kosuri’s staffing business, which began in 2008 and expanded significantly in 2011, amounts to a visa-for-sale system, in blatant violation of federal law. The indictment alleges that Kosuri created a network of shell companies that he presented to immigration authorities as independent businesses in need of Indian workers, but which he in fact owns and controls.

The indictment further reveals that Kosuri required workers to pay their own visa processing fees, in violation of H-1B program rules, and treated the beneficiaries as hourly contractors, again in contravention of H-1B visa program rules. The visa fraud scheme involves the forgery of numerous individuals’ signatures on visa petitions and exhibits without their knowledge.

Kosuri and Jharia are also accused of conspiring with consultant Raimondo Piluso to defraud the Small Business Administration by submitting fraudulent HUBZone applications. The indictment alleges that they concealed the true location, ownership, and employees of a business called EcomNets Federal Solutions in order to obtain federal loan and contract preferences, from which they have generated $150,000 in loan proceeds and five contract awards.

The indictment charges Kosuri, Jharia, and Piluso with a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, while their co-conspirators face up to 10 years. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

A team of law enforcement officials, including U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente, ICE Special Agent in Charge Clark E. Settles, and U.S. Department of Labor Special Agent Robin Blake, made the announcement after the indictment was unsealed.

The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul K. Nitze and Angela Fiorentino-Rios.

A copy of the indictment and related court documents can be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:16-CR-43.

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