CALIFORNIA- Kishore Dattapuram, a 55-year-old Indian-origin businessman, has been sentenced to 14 months in prison for orchestrating a large-scale H-1B visa fraud operation in the United States.
The sentencing follows his guilty plea entered in November of last year alongside two co-defendants.
Visa Application Fraud
Dattapuram co-founded Nanosemantics, Inc., a staffing company based in San Jose that specialised in providing skilled workers to technology companies throughout the Bay Area. The firm generated revenue by collecting commission fees for each worker successfully placed with client companies.
According to court documents, Dattapuram and his co-defendants systematically submitted fraudulent H-1B visa applications that falsely claimed foreign workers had specific jobs waiting for them at designated end-client companies. In reality, these positions did not exist at the time of application.
Legal Proceedings
Dattapuram, along with Kumar Aswapathi (55) and Santosh Giri (48), faced serious legal consequences for their actions. The three men were indicted on February 28, 2019, with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and ten counts of substantive visa fraud.
All three defendants entered guilty pleas in November, admitting to their roles in the fraudulent scheme. Judge Davila presided over the case and delivered Dattapuram’s sentence on April 21, 2025.
Penalties
In addition to the 14-month prison term, Judge Davila ordered Dattapuram to serve 3 years of supervised release following his incarceration. The court also imposed significant financial penalties, including:
- Forfeiture of $125,456.48
- A fine of $7,500
- A special assessment fee of $1,100
These penalties reflect the severity of the fraud and its impact on the immigration system.
Mechanics of the Visa Fraud
The investigation revealed that Dattapuram’s operation manipulated the H-1B visa application process. The process requires employers to submit a Form I-129 petition to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). This petition must confirm job availability, specify employment duration, and include essential details such as compensation.
Dattapuram paid companies to be falsely listed as end-clients for foreign workers, despite knowing these workers would never be employed by these businesses. This deceptive practice violated fundamental requirements of the H-1B program.
Competitive Advantage
The defendants admitted that their scheme aimed to secure visas for job candidates before actually finding employment positions for them. This approach gave Nanosemantics an unfair competitive advantage by allowing the company to place workers with employers immediately when positions became available, rather than waiting for the visa application process to conclude.
By circumventing the proper legal channels, Dattapuram’s operation undermined the integrity of the H-1B visa program, which is designed to allow US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in speciality occupations requiring theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields.
The case highlights ongoing efforts by US authorities to combat visa fraud and protect the integrity of legitimate immigration pathways for skilled workers entering the American workforce.
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