Thread: Twin brothers guilty in immigrant visa conspiracy

Twin brothers guilty in immigrant visa conspiracy

http://blogs.chron.com/immigration/arch ... ers_g.html

A federal jury has found twin brothers from Brownsville guilty of conspiring to obtain fraudulent work visas for nearly 90 Indian nationals in Houston in exchange for at least $20,000 per visa, the U.S. Attorney's Office said today.

The jury found that 39-year-old brothers Alberto and Bernardo Pena had encouraged and induced 87 individuals from Gujarat, India, to unlawfully enter the U.S. on temporary H-2B visas, knowing that the Indian nationals did not intend to work for the company used to get their visas. The brothers also knew that they did not intend to return to India when their 10-month visas expired, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The scheme generated an estimated $1.8 million in profit for the conspirators.

An H-2B visa allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for temporary non-agricultural work if the employer can show there are no qualified U.S. workers to perform the jobs.

The two-week trial was held before U.S. District Judge Nancy F. Atlas. According to federal prosecutors:

Co-defendants Mahendra "Mack" Patel, 56, of Ft. Worth, and Rakesh Patel, 40, a Houston pharmacist, who both pleaded guilty in advance of trial, recruited citizens of India who were willing to pay $20,000 to $60,000 in exchange for visas to enter the United States.

Alberto Pena and Bernardo Pena traveled to India to assist the Indian nationals with the application process and also visited and corresponded with the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai.

Each of the Indian nationals granted H-2B visas came to Houston, where defendants Mack Patel and Rakesh Patel collected payments for the visas in the form of cash as well as cashier's checks and money orders purchased throughout the country. None of the Indian nationals were ever employed at the construction company but instead simply dispersed throughout the United States after paying for their fraudulently obtained visas.


Sentencing for both defendants is set for June 26. They face a maximum penalty of up to five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine in connection with the conspiracy conviction and up to 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine for each of 14 counts of inducing illegal immigration.

Posted by Mizanur Rahman at April 3, 2009 03:41 PM

The money the two brothers made should be taken from their bank accounts and distributed to the American victims of criminal illegals.

And yet thousands of illegal students are clamoring for legalization---so they can go on to legal advocacy careers and social work.

Amazing, I wonder how they were able to show there were no American workers.

I demand the highest punishment possible, for endangering the posterity of America.

"None of the Indian nationals were ever employed at the construction company but instead simply dispersed throughout the United States after paying for their fraudulently obtained visas."

What are the chances that they will be rounded up and returned to India? Nada, probably.