A day after the news of the arrest of Telugu NRI Sateesh Vemuri, one among the four charged with H-1B visa fraud by the authorities of the United States of America hit headlines in India, Telugu Association of North America (TANA) has apparently distanced itself from him .
Sateesh was arrested and later released on a bond of $250,000, on Tuesday (US local time), according to a release by U.S. Attorney’s Office, Department of Justice.
On Thursday evening (IST), Mr. Vemuri’s profile on the official website of TANA (tana.org) was deleted. His photograph and name as the Coordinator, Community Services under the list of Executive Committee of TANA were also removed.
“For 15 years, Sateesh has been an ardent supporter of TANA,” reads his profile on Tana.org whose cached version is still available.
Email and a message sent to TANA representatives seeking confirmation of Mr. Vemuri’s association with the organisation and any possibility of offering legal support evoked no response.
Mr. Vemuri of San Jose in Bay Area was charged with fraudulently using the H-1B visa programme to gain an unfair advantage over competitors in staffing industry through the company Krypto IT Solutions Inc in New Jersey along with three others including another Telugu NRI Venkataramana Mannam. Mr. Vemuri was the CEO of Krypto.