Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
US government slaps $34 million (₹288 crore) fine on Indian tech giant Infosys for visa and immigration fraud.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker noticed that the viral image of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement press release was dated October 29, 2013. We then ran a keyword search for “$34 million fine Infosys,” which led us to multiple news from 2013 on the penalty.
“Infosys has agreed a civil settlement with the US Department of Justice over the alleged misuse of immigration visas that includes a $34m penalty. It is the largest amount ever paid in an immigration case, according to the US attorney’s office of the eastern district of Texas, which brought the case against Infosys,” read a Financial Times report, dated October 30, 2013. Similar reports can be seen here and here.
We found the official US government press release, dated October 29, 2013, which stated, “Infosys Limited, an Indian company involved in consulting, technology and outsourcing, has agreed to a record $34 million civil settlement based on allegations of systemic visa fraud and abuse of immigration processes, and also agreed to enhanced corporate compliance measures. The $34 million payment made by Infosys as a result of these allegations represents the largest payment ever levied in an immigration case.”
Infosys, too, had released a press statement, announcing that it had completed a civil settlement that concluded the investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas and resolves all issues with the U.S. Department of State, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security relating to I-9 paperwork errors and visa matters that were the subject of the investigation.
“In the settlement, Infosys agreed to pay $34 million to resolve all allegations, for which the company had already taken a reserve of $35 million which included attorney’s fees. The settlement is focused on historical I-9 paperwork errors from 2010-2011 that Infosys began correcting before the investigation began. There is no evidence that the I-9 paperwork violations allowed any Infosys employee to work beyond their visa authorization,” read the press release.
Result: Missing Context
Source
Financial Times report, October 13, 2013
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement press release, October 29, 2013
Infosys press release
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
