Kishore Dattapuram fined over ₹6 lakh, ordered to forfeit ₹1 crore for large-scale immigration scam
An Indian-origin businessman, Kishore Dattapuram, has been sentenced to 14 months in federal prison for orchestrating a significant H-1B visa fraud operation in San Jose, United States. US District Judge Edward J. Davila handed down the sentence on Saturday, also imposing a three-year supervised release, a $7,500 (₹6,40,257) fine, forfeiture of $125,456 (₹1,07,09,933), and a special assessment fee of $1,100 (₹93,904) , reported gujaratsamachar.com.
Dattapuram, 55, from Santa Clara, was indicted in February 2019 alongside two co-defendants on one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and 10 counts of substantive visa fraud. He pleaded guilty to all charges in November 2024.
As the co-owner of Nanosemantics Inc., a staffing company in San Jose, Dattapuram facilitated fraudulent H-1B visa applications by falsely claiming that foreign workers had specific jobs waiting for them at designated end-client companies — positions that did not exist.
Dattapuram, who co-owned a staffing firm, manipulated H-1B visa applications by fabricating job offers for foreign workers.
To expedite visa approvals and secure an unfair advantage over competitors, Dattapuram and his associates often paid companies to falsely list themselves as the workers’ employers, despite knowing that the workers would never be employed by them. This enabled Nanosemantics to preemptively place visa-holding candidates into actual jobs as they became available, bypassing the legitimate hiring process.
The fraudulent activities targeted the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) by exploiting the “I-129” petition process, which requires employers to substantiate job offers and employment terms before a visa is granted.
Dattapuram’s sentencing marks a significant crackdown on immigration-related fraud schemes impacting the integrity of the US visa system.