2/13/2009 New Jersey firm charged with having fake office at Coon Rapids
Vision Systems Group, 11 workers indicted for visa and mail fraud
The exterior of the Professional Office Building at 111 Sixth Ave. in Coon Rapids. Vision Systems Group Inc., subject of federal indictments for alleged visa and wire fraud, told labor authorities it established a branch office there in 2003. A sign inside says Vision occupies Suite 6, however a door leading to the suite was locked this morning. (Photos by Butch Heman)
"I know they had an office in town a couple years ago, but that's about it. I never met anybody from the company."
-- Coon Rapids Mayor Keith Dorpinghaus
"There seems to be a general lack of knowledge about the company and office here. It seems to have been a mail drop, more or less."
-- Doug Carpenter, president, Coon Rapids Development Group
Eleven workers for a New Jersey company that apparently created a ghost office at Coon Rapids were arrested Wednesday on charges of federal visa and mail fraud.
Vision Systems Group Inc. is alleged to have operated a scheme whereby it told the government it was sponsoring highly educated foreign workers to fill high-tech jobs in Iowa and other locations, where the employees could be paid less than if they were working on the East or West coasts. Federal authorities said the workers were actually on the coasts but were receiving wages that prevailed in Iowa and other locations, thereby dislocating and displacing U.S. workers that could've done the jobs at those locations.
Officials from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement as well as the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa announced the indictments and arrests Thursday.
The government is seeking forfeiture of $7.4 million it says Vision Systems Group earned via the alleged offenses.
At its Web site, Vision Systems Group says it provides consulting and information technology services including enterprise applications, product and application development and electronic gaming. "Your source for state-of-the-art consulting and IT services worldwide," its telephone answering system says.
Vision told labor authorities it established a branch office at 111 Sixth Ave. on the west end of downtown Coon Rapids in 2003. It's not known whether the office actually opened. A sign inside the building says Vision occupies Suite 6, however, a door leading to the suite was locked this morning. Calls to the office's listed telephone number went unanswered, as did calls to the company's headquarters in South Plainfield, N.J.
The suite Vision reportedly leased in Coon Rapids is owned by Comprehensive Investment Co. Several other offices are housed in the 25-by-140-foot building.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Whitaker declined to comment whether the Coon Rapids office was ever in actual operation.
Whitaker described the Vision Systems Group case as "just the tip of the iceberg" for visa fraud schemes in the U.S.
'This is an enforcement effort that points to a significant vulnerability in our visa process, and we're trying to close these loopholes and to take away the incentive to conduct these fraudulent schemes,' he remarked during Thursday's press conference in Des Moines.
In 10 counts and hundreds of pages of filed indictments, Vision and some of its workers are accused of submitting false statements and documents in support of visa petitions and mailing and/or wiring the fake documents to federal and state agencies. The information included names, jobs, wages and locations of company employees. Some workers allegedly mailed income-tax returns to the Iowa Department of Revenue while they worked in other states.
The investigation, which the feds dubbed "Operation Pacific Vision," was carried out in New Jersey, Iowa, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Texas and California.
Those arrested Wednesday were: Shiva Neeli, arrested in Boston, Mass., on conspiracy and mail fraud charges; Ramakrishna Maguluri, arrested in Atlanta, Ga., on conspiracy and mail fraud charges; Villiappan Subbaiah, arrested in Dallas, Texas, on conspiracy and mail fraud charges; Suresh Pola; arrested in Philadelphia, Pa., on conspiracy and mail fraud charges; Chockalingham Palaniappan, arrested in San Jose, Calif., on conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud charges; Vijay Myneni, arrested in San Jose on conspiracy and mail fraud charges; Venkata Guduru, arrested in New Jersey on conspiracy and mail fraud charges; Amit Justa, arrested in New Jersey on conspiracy and mail fraud charges; and Karambir Yadav, arrested in Louisville, Ky., on conspiracy and mail fraud charges.
Vishnu Reddy, who was arrested in Los Angeles, Calif., on conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud charges and named in a separate indictment, was identified as president of Pacific West Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif. Another indictment named Praveen Andapally, who was arrested in New Jersey on conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and for false statement in immigration matters. He was identified as president of Venturisoft Inc., of South Plainfield.
Some of the arrested workers emigrated from India and Pakistan.
Vision Systems Group's Web site says that in addition to the South Plainfield headquarters the company has a development support center and marketing office in Makati City, Philippines; an offshore operation in Hyderabad, India; and an office in Mohammadpur Dhatka, Bangladesh.
Whitaker said those who were arrested are not considered national security risks and were inter-viewed before they entered the country.
'Ever since Sept. 11, 2001, we have vetted these employees ... so even though they're not in the same location they're supposed to be and there may have been fraud conducted on the documents, at the same time there are other systems in place that should review these folks for national security issues,' he said.
Federal authorities said "Operation Pacific Vision" included execution of search warrants at Urbandale and Clive in Iowa; Santa Clara, Rancho Cucamonga and Arcadia in California; and South Plainfield in New Jersey.
The U.S. Attorney's Office would neither confirm nor deny that the Vision Systems Group branch office at Coon Rapids was searched. Carroll County authorities received no requests to assist federal agents in the Vision case.
Coon Rapids Mayor Keith Dorpinghaus said he knew little about Vision Systems Group.
"I know they had an office in town a couple years ago, but that's about it. I never met anybody from the company," he told The Times Herald.
"There seems to be a general lack of knowledge about the company and office here," remarked Doug Carpenter, president of the Coon Rapids Development Group. "It seems to have been a mail drop, more or less."
Whitaker, who announced the arrests Thursday, declined to answer questions from The Times Herald, as did Mike Bladel, law-enforcement coordinator for the U.S. District Court Southern District of Iowa.
"Because this is a very active and open investigation, we are respectfully declining to comment beyond the indictments and our press release," said Bladel.
Foreign labor certification programs are designed to permit U.S. employers to hire foreign workers to fill jobs essential to American businesses. Only 65,000 skilled workers are allowed into the U.S. on H-1B visas. They can stay in the country for three years with an option for an additional three years. Homeland Security and the Department of Labor require employers to meet specific labor conditions that ensure Americans aren't adversely impacted.
ICE conducted the investigation with assistance from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Fraud Detection and National Security Division, the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Department of State, the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Iowa.
Maximum sentences for the charges filed in the Vision Systems Group case are five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy, 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for mail fraud, 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for wire fraud and 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for making a false statement in an immigration matter.
"This case highlights the Department of Homeland Security's commitment to identifying and dismantling visa fraud schemes," ICE Acting Assistant Secretary John Torres said. "Ensuring the integrity of our nation's legal immigration system is a top priority for ICE."
"This is a prime example of how the Department of Homeland Security identifies fraud," said Michael Aytes, USCIS acting deputy director. "Our adjudication officers can spot inconsistencies during the application process that ultimately led to the successful outcome we're seeing today. Visa fraud undermines the integrity of the immigration system, and I'm proud that our officers have helped to ensure that the American people and our customers can continue to depend on a reliable system."
Aytes said the Vision case demonstrates vulnerabilities in the H-1B visa program and that adjustments will be made "to ensure the integrity of the immigration system in the United States."
