Infosys new tactics to tackle visa fraud case
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 30 May 2011, 20:39 IST   |    4 Comments
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Infosys new tactics to tackle visa fraud case
Bangalore: A whole new twist has been reached in Infosys visa fraud case, and now its Palmer's laptop that has grabbed all the attention. Mendelsohn, who is the lawyer for Palmer stated in an email to India Real Time, a unique analysis and insights section of The Wall Street Journal, that Palmer's work laptop has become a crucial piece of evidence in the case. According to Kenny Mendelsohn Infosys would not want to opt for a jury trial in the civil case and would like to resolve the matter through arbitration. Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution where a third party, basically a federal judge adjudicates the matter. Earlier this year, Palmer, who has been working with the company as a principal consultant since August 2008, filed a complaint saying Infosys was illegally sending employees on B1 visas to work full time in the U.S., though the visa was only meant for visitors who come for meetings, conferences and business negotiations. Infosys though admitted that the company had received a subpoena on May 23 from a district court in Texas for appearance, they vehemently refused of the allegation of misusing B1 visas. It has started reviewing its procedures to counter the charge of misusing B1 business visas to the U.S. Mendelsohn stated in his email to India real time that Palmer laptop contains documents that would substantiate the claim of visa violations; hence Infosys have been struggling hard to get the laptop in its possession. Infosys even went ahead of threatening Palmer that he will be fired if his laptop is not returned to them. However palmer decided to hand over to the U.S. authorities. When Infosys was contacted they had a different version of story to tell. It said that in any context, if the company is involved in any litigation it is required to preserve documents and electronic records and has to secure and maintain copies of those records and that was the sole intention of the company. Mendelsohn further stated that Palmer is still an employee of Infosys and has been drawing his salary every month. But he has not been involved in any more assignments of the company. As Infosys is a listed company on the Nasdaq, such a fraud if proved will cost a bomb for the company as its major clients are in U.S.

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