Infosys settles with California over alleged visa scam, tax evasion | Hacker News Reader

Infosys settles with California over alleged visa scam, tax evasion

mercurynews.com

77 pointsmasonic33 comments

The article focuses on the resolution of tax liability with CA, but it also mentions InfoSys heavily misclassifying immigrants, which seems to expose them to federal prosecution as well -- isn't that going to have much worse consequences? Will CA's sanctuary policy have implications for the feds' ability to prosecute (i.e. does it extend to "no we won't pass on what they represented in their filings")?

Also, $800k feels like not enough deter this kind of thing.

$800k penalty seems like basically nothing.

My initial thoughts exactly.

It's definitely nothing compared to Infosys cash flows as a whole; I'm only on the fence because I'm not sure how large it is relative to the profits of this specific scheme.

They are not illegal immigrants so probably the CA sanctuary policy doesn't apply. Now the question is are the Fed pursuing any prosecution.

So, if the B-1 visas are revoked while the holders are in the US, ICE would probably like to deport them as part of their Immigration Enforcement activities.

The biggest portion (in my mind) of the law that I found [1] is:

> 7284.6. (a) California law enforcement agencies shall not: > (1) Use agency or department moneys or personnel to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect, or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes, including any of the following:

> [long list]

I would say that the state was investing a company, not necessarily a person, and for tax enforcement purposes, not for immigration enforcement purposes. I also may not have the final law (or it may have been adjusted since).

Also, people on B-1 visa shouldn't remain in the country for very long at a stretch (max 6 months), so it's likely there aren't a lot of people who could be detained for violations.

[1] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml...

I doubt any sanctuary city/state policies would impact federal investigation (and prosecution) of visa fraud. When a state/city declared itself a sanctuary, it typically relates to turning over immigrants to ICE, usually after they've been apprehended for non-immigration reasons (speeding and other minor crimes). I haven't heard of those policies extending to broader immigration crime.

The article notes they already settled with the feds.

All Fines are bribes; the entire concept of a fine in of itself is fundementally a corruption of the law.

If you want to stay pro-business, sentancing the executive management to public service, or probation, or anti-corruption workshops like they do for those with DUI works fine for me. I'm all for a 3 strikes program. First strike, you pay for the workshop and pass or get probation. Second strike you're on probation and if you don't like it, go to jail. Third strike, you're a felon.

The $800k settlement is a joke. It sounds as if our state is corrupt, or worse, just flat out incompetent. Why weren't they prosecuted for the crime?

Why weren't they prosecuted for the crime?

Because they settled...

And the $800k seems low (and probably is) but it only relates to state taxes, which are lower than federal taxes, and only applies to a specific, relatively uncommon type of non immigrant worker. Offset against the $800k is the cost they don't spend prosecuting the case, or collecting the amount deemed owed.

The problem is that the penalty is not enough to detract InfoSys or other companies from committing the same crime.

Violation of immigration law should lead to automatic bans on applying for future visas by the company. I always wonder why DHS or USCIS don't go after big names like them harder.

Because the enforcement is pro business and anti-worker.

$800K settlement and not having to admit any wrongdoing is a joke. It's basically a token fine so the state can say they did something while still keeping everyone who benefited from this (Infosys & their clients – so all large tech companies) happy.

Another "settlement" that's scaled more like a sales tax.

500 employees means less than 2k per employee. I suspect they made a much more significant profit than the fine they just received.

I don’t understand why criminal charges weren’t applied to the people who committed perjury, and why the fine was not a whole number multiple of the profit they made through their fraud.

I say this as a person who spent many years on an H1-B, and is sick of getting shit on because of these “consulting” companies.

Let’s be honest: technical specialist visas have no business in general outsourcing/contracting firms. By definition a company offering outsourcing services is not a company that is hiring specialists.

Can you explain your reasoning? Specialist is exactly the role I need to outsource.

An h1b is for specialists for your business. If you need a specialist so badly you need an h1b, then you should be employing them directly.

Large outsourcing firms aren’t hiring a bunch uniquely talented specialists.

>By definition a company offering outsourcing services is not a company that is hiring specialists.

Counterpoint: If a specialist is so specialized that no single company can justify hiring them full time, an outsourcing/contracting firm is the perfect place to be.

This is par for the WITCH companies (WiPro, Infy, TCS etc.). Indian companies, Indian culture. If you can get away with anything, even INSIDE the company, you do it, and don't stop unless the penalty is massive. I guarantee you the same behavior is still going on, perhaps only outside of California but a good chance inside as well.

> Indian companies, Indian culture.

Your comment would be significantly improved if you didn't lump in some casual racism.

Indians such as myself are well aware of the reality of Indian work culture and business ethics. Indian corporations take tax evasion, environmental negligence, and worker abuse to an extreme far beyond what the US or any other developed country has to deal with. It is certainly improving for several reasons - a burgeoning startup environment, environmental awareness, better education - but I hardly find it racist to point it out.

Stereotypes based on half-truths aren't necessarily rascist

Internet discourse based on them quickly sinks to the bottom of the barrel.

This: replace indian with chinese or any other country where the quality of life, pay, and opportunities are not as great as in the destination countries and you have the main reason, a large pool of desperate people and managers/directors trying to "improve" their bottom line. Pay everyone the same across the board! Why pay programmers of equal value differently for the exact same work? FAANG companies do this within the US across various regions. How about fixing that first.

For the same orange juice, you pay a premium price at wholefoods, don't you? There is nothing alike here. Your pay depends on your skill and your ability to sell yourself.

Just taking the parent comment at face value, does it really qualify as racist / slur?

Yes, it invoked a country and a race, followed by unflattering statements. Are those statements factual? Unfair generalisations or politically incorrect?

I'm leaning towards it being politically incorrect.

Saying that certain Indian companies do things is fine; it becomes an unfair generalization when you try to to extrapolate that to being because of their country's culture to be dishonest.

It's just repeating a tired stereotype. India is becoming a less corrupt country over time as institutional arrangements (not "culture" which is irrelevant to the issue) improve. It's already less corrupt than many of its neighbors.

> Indian companies, Indian culture.

Racial and national slurs will get you banned here. Please don't do this again.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Edit: we've given you many warnings. If you keep breaking the site guidelines we will ban you.

It also applies to the companies that do business with Filipino engineer H1Bs also(What I am familiar with involves those in the telecom and cell tower industry though). So not exclusive

The relative popularity of this comment should reveal to foreigners what will happen if the tech industry unionizes. It will be a collective expression of this “I’m not racist but Indians...” and “I’m not racist but Chinese...” stuff.

Protectionism is bedfellows with xenophobia. Ready yourselves.

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