A South Asian Indian was arrested by the U.S. immigration authorities in one of the biggest ever detections of immigration fraud, involving about 1,000 computer professionals from India and Pakistan. Assets worth over $5 million were seized from him.

Narendra Mandalapa, who was charged with fraud and misuse of visas, is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said investigations revealed that Mandalapa had filed nearly 1,000 possibly fraudulent labor-based petitions, on behalf of skilled computer professionals from the Indian sub-continent seeking to enter or remain in the United States.

Investigators estimate that these professionals paid at least $2.1 million in application fees for their fraudulent labor-based petitions. The investigators are now working to determine the number of other such people who may have entered the United States fraudulently, and how many may have already received undue labor benefits.

During the investigation that followed the detection of small immigration fraud by the ICE special unit, the agents uncovered two shell companies in New Jersey owned by Mandalapa.

These companies were created by Mandalapa solely for the purpose of filing fraudulent labor-based petitions for foreign workers. During the investigation, computers and documents from the corporate address of Cybersoftec were seized.

Four bank accounts in Edison, New Jersey, and two brokerage accounts in New York City, which were used to hide illegal profit have been seized. The seized assets also include a Mercedes van and Lexus sedan, with a combined value of nearly $100,000.

Observing that immigration benefit fraud is a multibillion dollar business, the Acting Newark Special Agent-in-Charge Thomas E. Manifase said, “This type of fraud not only steals jobs from legitimate workers, but also provides individuals illegal entry to the United States and creates a risk to national security and public safety.”

Manifase pointed out that the investigation is an outstanding example of two agencies in the Department of Homeland Security cooperating to uncover and dismantle an organization dedicated to undermining the legal immigration system and making huge profits.

Jennifer L. Mickey, chief of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Fraud Detection Unit, said: “Individuals who used fraud to obtain immigration benefits are breaking the law. We take our responsibility to protect the integrity of our immigration system by combating benefit fraud very seriously.”

The USCIS Fraud Detection Unit, co-located at the USCIS Vermont Service Center, is a branch of the national USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Unit.

This investigation is a product of a joint anti-fraud initiative undertaken by ICE, USCIS and the Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General. The investigation began when a special fraud detection unit of USCIS uncovered a pattern of fraud in petitions for immigration benefits submitted by Mandalapa through one of his companies.

The USCIS Fraud Detection Unit in St. Albans, Vermont, referred their analysis to the ICE Benefit Fraud Unit (IBFU), also based in Vermont. The IBFU then coordinated with ICE special agent-in-charge in Newark, New Jersey to begin the field investigation that resulted in the arrest and seizure of assets.