Feds probing migrant NY government workers whose visas may be fraudulent
Times Union (archive.ph)
By Brendan J. Lyons
2024-11-04 13:29:14GMT
ALBANY — Hundreds of migrants working for New York government agencies as computer programming consultants are the focus of a state and federal criminal investigation after it was discovered many of them allegedly have fraudulent residency documents or doctored professional biographies.
Some of the workers, who are hourly contract employees for roughly two dozen private information technology companies, are in positions in which they may have access to sensitive information as well as the personal identifiable information of both government workers and state residents and businesses, sources said. The roughly two dozen companies have contracts worth tens of millions of dollars with the state.
The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the state inspector general’s office, whose investigators have recently consulted with the U.S. attorney’s office in Albany about the case, according to sources briefed on the matter. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office, which learned about the situation at least six months ago, has not publicly released any information about the investigation.
On May 28, Gregory Anderson, the governor’s deputy director of state operations, sent a memo to various agencies notifying them that the inspector general’s office had identified “cases where individuals assigned to agencies under the HBITS (Hourly Based IT Services) contract have included fraudulent qualifications or backgrounds in their applications for employment and placement.”
Anderson’s internal memorandum, which was shared with the Times Union by a confidential source, notified agency officials that they are “responsible for ensuring that all individuals placed under the HBITS contract are vetted, including ensuring that references are checked and that individuals meet required qualifications for placement.”
Anderson also instructed the agency officials to review the documentation of hourly workers they have hired through contracts with private consulting companies, including driver's licenses and passports, as well as their resumes. He also recommended checking with their supervisors to confirm that their job skills reflect the professional experience listed on their resumes.
In addition, Anderson's memo cautioned the agency officials to pay particular attention to hourly workers placed by Greycell Labs, Inc., an information technology firm with offices in Edison, New Jersey, and Gujarat, India. Anderson sent copies of his memo to Alexis Osborne, an investigative counsel with the state inspector general's office, and to Sean Hume, an assistant director overseeing the hourly contracts for the state Office of General Services.
Public records indicate Greycell Labs has more than 75 contracts with numerous state agencies in New York, including the Department of Financial Services, Department of Health, Office of Information Technology Services, attorney general's office, State Police, Education Department, Public Service Commission and Department of Labor.
Greycell has secured more than $27 million in contracts for hourly workers with at least 15 state agencies. The company is being paid under a 10-year, $35 million contract with the state Office of General Services that was awarded in 2019.
Officials with Greycell Labs could not be reached for comment.
The policies for vetting private consultants employed by state agencies appears to vary and does not include verifying whether documents such as green cards or visas are valid. The state agencies do not have direct access to federal immigration databases that are the only way to check the residency status of migrant workers.
Officials with the state inspector general's office and the U.S. attorney's office in Albany declined to comment on the investigation.
'Not something we check'
Two people familiar with the matter said that the inspector general’s office had recently turned over the names of more than 1,200 programming consultants to federal immigration authorities, who during a preliminary review found that many of them had forged green cards or fraudulent visa receipts.
“Immigration status is not something we check,” said Scott Reif, a spokesman for the state Office of Information Technology Services, which is among numerous agencies that employee the computer programmers — many of whom are from India. “It would be up to the vendor to make sure they were authorized to work in the U.S.”
A law enforcement source briefed on the matter said that investigators are also examining whether any of the hourly workers may have returned to their home country with state-issued computers as they continued working for government agencies that have varying rules governing remote work. The Times Union could not independently verify that allegation.
State government employees who work remote often log in using authenticator apps and need to use virtual private networks (VPNs) that may not be accessible through overseas' computer servers. But there are ways to work around those security measures, including by having network access routed through a computer in New York, the sources said.
Many agencies said they allow remote work but also have requirements for employees to be in the office for at least part of their work week.
Not the first time
Although some state government workers are subject to routine criminal background checks and reviews of their work histories, most are not. And those checks would not show whether someone has a criminal history in another country or is in the country illegally, according to sources familiar with the system.
Beau Duffy, a spokesman for the State Police, said they conduct background checks for State Police employees as well as Park Police, tribal police and railroad police. They also perform background checks, upon request, for the governor’s appointments office, usually for key Executive Chamber employees or those with investigative positions at other agencies, boards and commissions.
“We do backgrounds on request from Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security and Compliance,” Duffy said. “This is done to remain in compliance with the CJIS security policy set by the FBI. This includes backgrounds for vendors/contractors and (state) ITS personnel that have or may have access to (State Police) criminal justice information through their job duties.”
Duffy said most of those checks are done on individuals who reside in the U.S., regardless of their citizenship, although “there are some subjects that do not reside here.”
It’s not the first time there has been a federal criminal investigation focused on an information technology company that is under contract with a New York government agency.
In March 2021, Lakshmikanth Sripuram, a 37-year-old citizen of India who was living in New Jersey, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in connection with a years-long scheme involving the falsification of work histories of computer programmers who were hired for a special project with the state comptroller’s office.
In that case, which was prosecuted by the U.S. attorney’s office in Albany, Sripuram admitted to conspiring with a former employee of the comptroller’s office, Srinivas Kancha, who allegedly received kickbacks when he subsequently interviewed and hired the programmers, and also set their salaries. A federal criminal complaint alleges Kancha, a 56-year-old Selkirk resident, knew the computer programmers had falsified qualifications and that they had been provided the questions they would be asked by him in their job interviews.
Kancha was charged in January 2021 with conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He has not been indicted and his case remains pending in U.S. District Court in Albany nearly four years later; his attorney has agreed to numerous extensions of speedy trial rules. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
A federal judge sentenced Sripuram in August to one year of probation and a fine of $10,000. His foreign passport was subsequently turned over to U.S. immigration authorities. According to court filings, he is fighting to remain in the United States and his attorney recently pleaded with immigrant authorities to revive his green card application.
According to federal prosecutors, Sripuram’s company, PIntegra, was one of three firms that were under contract to provide computer programmers to state agencies. The state comptroller’s office hired 17 of the programmers for a massive project involving the state retirement system; they were paid hourly rates ranging from $80 to $120. That case began when the comptroller’s office learned many of the programmers' references and work histories were fabricated and launched an internal investigation.
PIntegra received about $870,000 from the state comptroller’s office under the contract, with Sripuram keeping a percentage of the programmers' pay. He used that money to allegedly pay kickbacks to Kancha. A restitution order that will require Sripuram to repay some or all of those funds is scheduled to be filed later this month.
Asked what they had learned from that case, Jennifer L. Freeman, a spokeswoman for the comptroller’s office, said they have established policies requiring background investigations “on vendors, consultants or staff who will have access to (the comptroller’s) IT systems, access to (the comptroller’s) confidential information/data, or routine access to any (comptroller’s) facility. A vendor is required to perform a background investigation on its staff or subcontractors.”
Freeman said the comptroller’s inspector general receives a copy of those background checks and reviews them: “As part of the review, the (inspector general) also conducts a background investigation to verify the accuracy of the information provided and prevent submission of fraudulent credentialing information.”
She said the review includes verifying that an outside vendor has obtained a federal “I-9” form. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says those forms are required to be completed by all U.S. employers for every individual they hire, including U.S. citizens and non-citizens. The forms also require the employee to provide documentation that they are authorized to work in the U.S.
A law enforcement official, who spoke to the Times Union on the condition of not being identified, said that federal officials routinely discover fraudulent or incorrect information in I-9 forms filed on behalf of non-citizens.
A spokeswoman for the state Office of General Services, which oversees the HBITS contracting program, did not respond to questions about whether it conducts any vetting of those hourly employees before they go to work for state agencies.
The Times Union is not identifying the companies other than Greycell Labs because it's unclear which ones have workers suspected of having fraudulent immigration documents or falsified work histories. Federal Homeland Security officials are examining at least 19 of the companies.
Times Union (archive.ph)
By Brendan J. Lyons
2024-11-04 13:29:14GMT
ALBANY — Hundreds of migrants working for New York government agencies as computer programming consultants are the focus of a state and federal criminal investigation after it was discovered many of them allegedly have fraudulent residency documents or doctored professional biographies.
Some of the workers, who are hourly contract employees for roughly two dozen private information technology companies, are in positions in which they may have access to sensitive information as well as the personal identifiable information of both government workers and state residents and businesses, sources said. The roughly two dozen companies have contracts worth tens of millions of dollars with the state.
The investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the state inspector general’s office, whose investigators have recently consulted with the U.S. attorney’s office in Albany about the case, according to sources briefed on the matter. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office, which learned about the situation at least six months ago, has not publicly released any information about the investigation.
On May 28, Gregory Anderson, the governor’s deputy director of state operations, sent a memo to various agencies notifying them that the inspector general’s office had identified “cases where individuals assigned to agencies under the HBITS (Hourly Based IT Services) contract have included fraudulent qualifications or backgrounds in their applications for employment and placement.”
Anderson’s internal memorandum, which was shared with the Times Union by a confidential source, notified agency officials that they are “responsible for ensuring that all individuals placed under the HBITS contract are vetted, including ensuring that references are checked and that individuals meet required qualifications for placement.”
Anderson also instructed the agency officials to review the documentation of hourly workers they have hired through contracts with private consulting companies, including driver's licenses and passports, as well as their resumes. He also recommended checking with their supervisors to confirm that their job skills reflect the professional experience listed on their resumes.
In addition, Anderson's memo cautioned the agency officials to pay particular attention to hourly workers placed by Greycell Labs, Inc., an information technology firm with offices in Edison, New Jersey, and Gujarat, India. Anderson sent copies of his memo to Alexis Osborne, an investigative counsel with the state inspector general's office, and to Sean Hume, an assistant director overseeing the hourly contracts for the state Office of General Services.
Public records indicate Greycell Labs has more than 75 contracts with numerous state agencies in New York, including the Department of Financial Services, Department of Health, Office of Information Technology Services, attorney general's office, State Police, Education Department, Public Service Commission and Department of Labor.
Greycell has secured more than $27 million in contracts for hourly workers with at least 15 state agencies. The company is being paid under a 10-year, $35 million contract with the state Office of General Services that was awarded in 2019.
Officials with Greycell Labs could not be reached for comment.
The policies for vetting private consultants employed by state agencies appears to vary and does not include verifying whether documents such as green cards or visas are valid. The state agencies do not have direct access to federal immigration databases that are the only way to check the residency status of migrant workers.
Officials with the state inspector general's office and the U.S. attorney's office in Albany declined to comment on the investigation.
'Not something we check'
Two people familiar with the matter said that the inspector general’s office had recently turned over the names of more than 1,200 programming consultants to federal immigration authorities, who during a preliminary review found that many of them had forged green cards or fraudulent visa receipts.
“Immigration status is not something we check,” said Scott Reif, a spokesman for the state Office of Information Technology Services, which is among numerous agencies that employee the computer programmers — many of whom are from India. “It would be up to the vendor to make sure they were authorized to work in the U.S.”
A law enforcement source briefed on the matter said that investigators are also examining whether any of the hourly workers may have returned to their home country with state-issued computers as they continued working for government agencies that have varying rules governing remote work. The Times Union could not independently verify that allegation.
State government employees who work remote often log in using authenticator apps and need to use virtual private networks (VPNs) that may not be accessible through overseas' computer servers. But there are ways to work around those security measures, including by having network access routed through a computer in New York, the sources said.
Many agencies said they allow remote work but also have requirements for employees to be in the office for at least part of their work week.
Not the first time
Although some state government workers are subject to routine criminal background checks and reviews of their work histories, most are not. And those checks would not show whether someone has a criminal history in another country or is in the country illegally, according to sources familiar with the system.
Beau Duffy, a spokesman for the State Police, said they conduct background checks for State Police employees as well as Park Police, tribal police and railroad police. They also perform background checks, upon request, for the governor’s appointments office, usually for key Executive Chamber employees or those with investigative positions at other agencies, boards and commissions.
“We do backgrounds on request from Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security and Compliance,” Duffy said. “This is done to remain in compliance with the CJIS security policy set by the FBI. This includes backgrounds for vendors/contractors and (state) ITS personnel that have or may have access to (State Police) criminal justice information through their job duties.”
Duffy said most of those checks are done on individuals who reside in the U.S., regardless of their citizenship, although “there are some subjects that do not reside here.”
It’s not the first time there has been a federal criminal investigation focused on an information technology company that is under contract with a New York government agency.
In March 2021, Lakshmikanth Sripuram, a 37-year-old citizen of India who was living in New Jersey, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in connection with a years-long scheme involving the falsification of work histories of computer programmers who were hired for a special project with the state comptroller’s office.
In that case, which was prosecuted by the U.S. attorney’s office in Albany, Sripuram admitted to conspiring with a former employee of the comptroller’s office, Srinivas Kancha, who allegedly received kickbacks when he subsequently interviewed and hired the programmers, and also set their salaries. A federal criminal complaint alleges Kancha, a 56-year-old Selkirk resident, knew the computer programmers had falsified qualifications and that they had been provided the questions they would be asked by him in their job interviews.
Kancha was charged in January 2021 with conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He has not been indicted and his case remains pending in U.S. District Court in Albany nearly four years later; his attorney has agreed to numerous extensions of speedy trial rules. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
A federal judge sentenced Sripuram in August to one year of probation and a fine of $10,000. His foreign passport was subsequently turned over to U.S. immigration authorities. According to court filings, he is fighting to remain in the United States and his attorney recently pleaded with immigrant authorities to revive his green card application.
According to federal prosecutors, Sripuram’s company, PIntegra, was one of three firms that were under contract to provide computer programmers to state agencies. The state comptroller’s office hired 17 of the programmers for a massive project involving the state retirement system; they were paid hourly rates ranging from $80 to $120. That case began when the comptroller’s office learned many of the programmers' references and work histories were fabricated and launched an internal investigation.
PIntegra received about $870,000 from the state comptroller’s office under the contract, with Sripuram keeping a percentage of the programmers' pay. He used that money to allegedly pay kickbacks to Kancha. A restitution order that will require Sripuram to repay some or all of those funds is scheduled to be filed later this month.
Asked what they had learned from that case, Jennifer L. Freeman, a spokeswoman for the comptroller’s office, said they have established policies requiring background investigations “on vendors, consultants or staff who will have access to (the comptroller’s) IT systems, access to (the comptroller’s) confidential information/data, or routine access to any (comptroller’s) facility. A vendor is required to perform a background investigation on its staff or subcontractors.”
Freeman said the comptroller’s inspector general receives a copy of those background checks and reviews them: “As part of the review, the (inspector general) also conducts a background investigation to verify the accuracy of the information provided and prevent submission of fraudulent credentialing information.”
She said the review includes verifying that an outside vendor has obtained a federal “I-9” form. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says those forms are required to be completed by all U.S. employers for every individual they hire, including U.S. citizens and non-citizens. The forms also require the employee to provide documentation that they are authorized to work in the U.S.
A law enforcement official, who spoke to the Times Union on the condition of not being identified, said that federal officials routinely discover fraudulent or incorrect information in I-9 forms filed on behalf of non-citizens.
A spokeswoman for the state Office of General Services, which oversees the HBITS contracting program, did not respond to questions about whether it conducts any vetting of those hourly employees before they go to work for state agencies.
The Times Union is not identifying the companies other than Greycell Labs because it's unclear which ones have workers suspected of having fraudulent immigration documents or falsified work histories. Federal Homeland Security officials are examining at least 19 of the companies.
