All eight Indian nationals, recently arrested by United States immigration authorities for recruiting and enrolling dozens of Indian students in a fake university, have pleaded "not guilty" before a federal court in Michigan, Detroit.
One of them Phanideep Karnati who is on a work (H-1B) visa and lives in Kentucky was released on a bond of USD 10,000 on Monday.
The seven others - Barath Kakireddy, Suresh Kandala, Prem Rampeesa, Santosh Sama, Avinash Thakkallapally, Aswanth Nune, and Naveen Prathipati – will continue to remain in detention.
Mr Brusstar accused the federal government of entrapping people by carrying out such a sting operation.
"It was all choreographed," Brusstar has been quoted as saying by PTI.
Source: University of Farmington
Several Indian students detained across the United States
Dozens of fake students have been detained across the US by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) floated a fake university and discovered a network of eight agents ‘that grossly exploited US Immigration laws’ by assisting foreign citizen “students” fraudulently obtain immigration documents from the school and facilitating the creation of false student records, including transcripts, for the purpose of deceiving immigration authorities.
The authorities claimed Indian students now detained knew the university was fake.
“All participants in the scheme knew that the school had no instructors or actual classes. The defendants intended to help shield and hide their customers/"students" from United States immigration authorities for money and collectively profited in excess of a quarter of a million dollars as a result of their scheme,” ICE said.
India reaches out to students detained in the United States
The Indian authorities have reached out to Indian students currently under detention across the country.
The Indian Government has urged the US government to release the students from detention and not deport them.
“We underlined that students, who may have been duped into enrolling in the ‘University’ should be treated differently from those recruiters who have duped them.
“We have urged the U.S. side to share full details and regular updates of the students with the Government, to release them from detention at the earliest and not to resort to deportation against their will,” a statement from the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said.
“So far, about 30 Indian students have been contacted by our consular officers. Efforts to contact the remaining Indian students are continuing,” the MEA said, adding that a 24-hour helpline has been established for assistance.
