I.C.E. News Release

November 1, 2011
Dayton, OH

Ohio business owner sentenced for hiring illegal aliens at ghost company

Dayton, Ohio – An Ohio businessman was sentenced Tuesday on charges that he filed nearly 250 false documents for illegal aliens at a non-existent company following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Amarnath Trichy, 47, of Dayton, Ohio, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to nine months in federal prison for charges which were part of a scheme to bring illegal workers to the Dayton area for jobs that did not exist.

Carter M. Stewart, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Brian M. Moskowitz, special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Ohio and Michigan, and James Vanderberg, special agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General (DOL-OIG) in Chicago, announced the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Walter H. Rice.

Trichy pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents on Dec. 14, 2010. According to a statement of facts filed with his plea, Trichy owned Recursive Technologies, Inc. (RTI) in Dayton. RTI provided contract programming and third party software support. Around late 2005, as part of RTI, Trichy developed a software project, MEDBPO, which ostensibly created an electronic patient file system for use in the medical field. Because of funding issues, MEDBPO was never established.

Trichy filed numerous documents with the U.S. Department of Labor between 2005 and 2010 certifying that he and his corporation had a need for alien workers that could not be filled by U.S. citizens. He claimed that these positions were in Dayton, despite the fact that MEDBPO is a fabricated corporation.

Trichy interviewed immigrant workers for the non-existent positions and often required payments of $1,500 to $2,000 from each candidate in return for his assistance with their visa applications. Trichy filed 248 petitions with the U.S. Department of Labor which caused U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to approve visas for at least 26 alien workers to enter the United States.

The case was investigated by agents of ICE HSI and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov . To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423 or complete our tip form.

U.S. Dept of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1111/111101dayton.htm