FBI arrests 2 Clinton men
By Charlene Bielema
Herald Editor
CLINTON — Two men have been arrested by federal agents in Clinton after being accused of violating immigration laws.
Vineet Maheshwari, 35, and Fazal Mehmood, also known as Fazal Awan, 49, have been arrested and are set to appear for a hearing Friday in Des Moines.
In connection with the case, FBI agents, immigration officers and Clinton police on Wednesday afternoon were among the agencies probing 211 Fifth Ave. South, which houses Worldwide Software Services Inc. and Sana Systems Inc.
Agents were there throughout the afternoon, with boxes and computers hauled out the back door. Officers, with hands gloved, could be seen working inside the businesses. Clinton Police Capt. Randy Meier refused to comment on the investigation, referring all questions to federal authorities.
Affidavits in the cases say both men were allowed to work in the United States because of employer documents filed by Worldwide Software Services or Sana Systems. Court records show that Mehmood and Maheshwari are listed in various immigration documents as president, director, vice president and manager of the companies
According to federal court documents, Maheshwari, originally from India, is accused of fraud and misuse of immigration documents; specifically, he is accused of knowingly and falsely making a document prescribed by statute or regulation as evidence of authorized stay or employment and knowingly making a false statement under oath in an application and document required by immigration laws.
Agents accuse him of providing a false employment history. They say that in March 2008 he was to give an accurate five-year employment history and that he falsely stated he had been employed by Network Resource Group of Springfield, Ill., since 1999, when in fact he had been employed at Sana Systems and Worldwide Software Services in Clinton until at least 2006.
Mehmood, a native of Pakistan, is accused of misusing a Social Security number from Nov. 6, 1990, through Nov. 30, 2005, and for making a false record in relation to the registry of aliens, the criminal complaint states. Prosecutors allege that he received two different Social Security numbers under two separate names, applying for one in 1989 and the other in 1990. The documents claim he opened accounts and got a driver’s license using differing Social Security numbers.
Documents state that he sought an adjustment in status from an H-1B non-immigrant to permanent resident. That request was made in 2000 by Worldwide Software Services on behalf of Fazal Mehmood.
Sana Systems also filed a petition for a non-immigrant worker, a Pakistani national, in 2000.
Mehmood incorporated Sana Systems as Fazal Awan in 2003, documents state. The false record charge accuses him of falsifying an employment record by stating that the Sana Systems worker with a visa had been employed with the company from 2001 until 2003, but that in fact he had not worked there continuously during that time period.
The Associated Press is reporting that the two men appear to be included in a national crackdown into suspected immigration fraud.
Hours after their arrest, the U.S. attorneys office announced it would hold a news conference today detailing “a nationwide coordinated enforcement action targeting visa fraud.â€
