India, April 20 -- Two Indian-origin men in the US have admitted to orchestrating a multi-year H-1B visa fraud scheme, according to the US Justice Department. Sampath Rajidi and Sreedhar Mada, both 51, used fake job offers linked to the University of California to secure work permits for foreign nationals.

The two men, residents of California's Dublin, pleaded guilty on Thursday to committing visa fraud, according to US Attorney Eric Grant. They face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 ( Rs.2.33 crore) fine.

Court documents show that Rajidi operated two visa services companies, S-Team Software Inc and Uptrend Technologies LLC, through which he sponsored foreign workers for H-1B specialty occupation visas.

Mada served as Chief Inf...