The US Department of Justice (DOJ) seeks to strip the US citizenship of 17 foreign-origin individuals accused of serious offences, including bank fraud, immigration fraud, and sexual abuse of a minor. An Indian-American business executive was among these people.
On Monday (US time), the Donald Trump administration announced its plans to revoke the immigration benefits of Neeraj Sharma, who was both the owner and CEO of a New Jersey-based staffing company, Magnavision LLC, over H-1B fraud. The DOJ’s decision to file a denaturalisation action against the 50-year-old man came seven years after he pleaded guilty to ‘Fraud and Misuse of Visas’ in 2019. Sharma’s confession, in turn, followed two years after he became a naturalised US citizen in 2017.
As a result, the Indian-origin CEO fell on the DOJ’s radar for illegally procuring his naturalisation by failing to disclose unlawful acts, providing false testimony and concealing material facts, in addition to willfully misrepresenting his case.
Trump govt says Indian-origin CEO unlawfully procured US citizenship
According to the official ‘Complaint to Revoke Naturalisation’ against Neeraj Sharma, the Trump administration states that the Indian-origin man “fraudulently and unlawfully” acquired his US citizenship. The case becomes an even more serious matter of concern as he committed crimes before attaining his naturalised status, which would have otherwise rendered him ineligible for such immigration benefits in the US.
Nonetheless, Sharma consciously concealed those crimes from US authorities throughout the naturalisation process. The Indian-origin man was even charged and convicted for the crimes after getting his citizenship.
Indian-origin CEO committed H-1B fraud during naturalisation process
In the complaint filed this week, US authorities said that the revocation of Sharma’s citizenship was sought on three grounds.
Firstly, they blamed it on a lack of good moral character to naturalise, as Sharma chose to commit unlawful acts that adversely reflected on his name during that period. The defendant has since admitted that he signed and filed 11 H-1B visa petitions containing fraudulent documents and fake statements, even though he knew the statements were false and crucial to USCIS’s adjudication of the visa applications.
Those misleading statements suggested that Sharma had secured full-time employment for the foreign-worker beneficiaries of the H-1B visas at a bank. Moreover, the visa petitions contained fraudulent letters on the bank’s letterhead with fake signatures of bank executives. A subsequent guilty verdict determined that the highlighted offences took place between April 25, 2015, and April 27, 2017.
Merely months after committing those acts, Sharma became a US citizen in December 2017, signalling a clash between the series of crimes and his own naturalisation timeline. He was ultimately sentenced to home detention for 10 months and 3 years of probation in 2021. This inevitably confirms that he falsely testified under oath during his naturalisation interview about his prior criminal conduct–the second ground basis which the DOJ seeks to revoke his citizenship.
Thirdly, Sharma willfully misrepresented and hid facts that were crucial to determining his eligibility for naturalisation.
“When criminal aliens exploit the naturalisation process by breaking the law, there are consequences. Criminal aliens are lying about their past crimes, including drug dealers, sexual predators, and fraudsters,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in reference to the DOJ’s recent action. “Gaining U.S. citizenship is a privilege and under the steadfast leadership of President Trump, this Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for the abuse of this process.”
“We continue to work around the clock with our interagency partners to make sure U.S. citizenship is granted to those who truly deserve it.”
Similarly, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated, “American citizenship is a privilege, and it must be earned honestly. If you come here break our laws, and lie in your immigration proceedings, you forfeit that privilege. DHS will not stand idly by while Americans are harmed by criminals, including sex offenders, perpetrators of fraud, and drug traffickers who have exploited our generosity and gamed our immigration system. We will continue to use every lawful avenue to denaturalise and remove aliens.”
From Indian citizen to naturalised US citizen: Chronology of Neeraj Sharma’s switch
Originally a native and citizen of India, the man who procured H-1B visas via fraud became a Permanent Resident (Green Card holder) of the US in February 2012. All through two years (April 2015 to April 2017), Sharma knowingly signed under penalty of perjury and filed with USCIS 11 H-1B visa petition packages as the Magnavision CEO.
In December 2017, Sharma became a naturalised US citizen after falsely testifying orally and under oath that he never lied to a US government official to gain immigration benefits despite committing H-1B visa-related offences between April 2015 and April 2017.
Two years down the line, a U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey accepted Neeraj Sharma’s plea of guilty. He was eventually found guilty in April 2021.
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