The couple, as well as four co-conspirators, were indicted on April 27.

An Indian-American couple, Raju Kosuri, 44, and Smriti Jharia, 45, of Ashburn, Virginia has pleaded guilty to the charges of 20 million US dollars visa fraud involving Indian workers, the Justice Department has said.

The couple, as well as four co-conspirators, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and visa fraud on April 27.

According to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Kosuri, Jharia and their co-conspirators fraudulently applied for more than 900 illegal immigration benefits under H-1B visa program.

Kosuri and Jharia also admitted to defrauding the Small Business Administration in connection with a scheme to obtain HUBZone certification for a business named EcomNets Federal Solutions.

Since 2008, and at much greater scale since 2011, Kosuri has built a staffing business that amounts to a visa-for-sale system, in violation of federal law, the Justice Department said.

Kosuri agreed to forfeit proceeds of his fraud schemes in the amount of USD 20,900,00, a media release said.

The visa fraud scheme also involves the forgery of numerous individuals’ signatures on visa petitions and exhibits without their knowledge. Kosuri, Jharia with a consultant named Raimondo Piluso face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, if convicted. The other co-conspirators face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted.