Nine Nepalis students charged with visa fraud in Kensas State, USA

KATHMANDU: Nine Nepalis students attending Kansas State University were indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Topeka on charges of visa fraud, according to U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom.

According to a news run by kansas.com,  the Nepalis students conspired to maintain their non-immigrant visas by making false statements that they possessed funds to pursue their study at K-State while supporting themselves and their dependants.

All nine students had obtained temporary possession of financial resources for the purpose of obtaining statements from financial institutions to support their claims that each personally had the needed funds in 2008.

The students temporarily obtained funds from fellow Nepalese students and deposited the funds in their bank accounts. After getting the notarized bank letter, they returned the funds to the other students.

The indicted students are Mahendra Thapa, 33; Khem Acharya, 41; Raj Kumar Dani, 37; Santosh Ghimire, 37; Lila Ballav Pandey, 41; Laxman Pokhrel, 37; Keshar Prasain, 38; Govind Paneru, 32; and Narayan Chapagain, 43.

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on each count. The state department and homeland security participated in the investigation.