Indian origin, Tejesh Kodali, 45, of Edison, New Jersey, has pleaded guilty and admitted to recruiting foreign nationals and enrolling them at a fake New Jersey college to maintain their “student-visa status and obtained full-time work authorisations without having to attend classes,” US Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a statement. Kodali, was the CEO and manager of two Middlesex county firms.
Kodali has informed his foreign national clients that, for a fee, they can be enrolled at the University of Northern New Jersey without having to attend any classes and that their enrollment can enable them to fraudulently maintain their non-immigrant status.
Having full knowledge that the recruits are not bona fide students and will not be attending any courses, earn credits or make academic progress towards any legitimate degree at UNNJ, Kodali has caused, Forms I-20 to be issued to the foreign nationals, the federal prosecutors alleged.
Tejesh Kodali was the director of operations of Promatrix Corp. and Blue Cloud Techs Corp., the two “Putative international student recruiting and consulting companies” in Edison, New Jersey.
While pleading guilty, Kodali has admitted that his intention was to profit from the scheme by outsourcing these foreign individuals through the Promatrix and Blue Techs as information technology consultants with various businesses in the United States for commissions.
Hi fraudulent activity has caused the foreign nationals to report in the government databases as legitimate foreign students. Kodali and his foreign clients have obtained and made fraudulent student documents, including the attendance records and transcripts and thus had deceived immigration officials.
By Premji
