A Telugu-origin tech entrepreneur, Kishore Dattapuram, has been sentenced to 14 months in federal prison in the United States for orchestrating a large-scale H-1B visa fraud scheme. The 55-year-old, who resides in Santa Clara, California, was sentenced by US District Judge Edward J. Davila after pleading guilty in November 2024 to one count of conspiracy and ten counts of visa fraud.
Dattapuram was a co-founder of Nanosemantics, Inc., a San Jose-based staffing firm that specialised in placing foreign technology workers in the US. Prosecutors revealed that he and his co-defendants routinely filed fraudulent H-1B visa petitions with the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), claiming fictitious job offers to secure visas.
Under the H-1B program, employers are required to demonstrate the availability of real, pre-existing jobs before bringing in foreign workers. However, Dattapuram paid various companies to falsely pose as employers, knowing that the workers listed on the applications would never actually be employed at those sites.
The aim of the fraud was to obtain visas in advance so Nanosemantics could deploy workers quickly when genuine job opportunities came up, giving the firm an unfair advantage over competitors who followed proper procedures.
Authorities called the scheme a deliberate attempt to exploit the H-1B system, which is meant to bring in skilled foreign professionals for legitimate roles. Acting US Attorney Patrick D. Robbins and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Tatum King warned that manipulation of the US immigration system would not be tolerated.
Apart from the prison term, Dattapuram was sentenced to three years of supervised release. He has also been ordered to forfeit USD 125,456.48, pay a fine of USD 7,500, and a special assessment fee of USD 1,100.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Sarah Griswold and Special Assistant US Attorney Johnny James, with investigative support from HSI and USCIS.