Ken Paxton Issues Civil Demands Against Nearly 30 North Texas Firms Over H-1B Ghost Offices

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued civil investigative demands to nearly 30 North Texas companies suspected of running “ghost offices” to game the H-1B visa system, according to a statement tied to the probe.

“Dive Brief: - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued demands to 30 businesses as part of a broad probe of alleged H-1B visa program fraud, according to a statement Thursday”

HR Dive

The investigation names Tekpro IT LLC, Blooming Clouds LLC and Oak Technologies Inc., and it alleges firms filed petitions listing non-existent worksites so they could sponsor foreign tech workers without offering legitimate local jobs.

HR Dive

Paxton’s office is seeking payroll records, lease agreements, client contracts and internal communications to determine whether employers misrepresented project details to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Paxton framed the effort as a crackdown on alleged misuse, saying, “I will not allow the H-1B program to be abused by bad actors seeking to use it as a loophole for allowing foreign nationals to invade Texas.”

The probe requires companies to turn over extensive business, financial and employee records, including employee rosters, descriptions of products or services provided, financial statements and internal communications related to company operations.

Newsweek reported that the Attorney General’s Office publicly named businesses under investigation including Tekpro IT LLC, Fame PBX LLC, 1st Ranking Technologies LLC, Qubitz Tech Systems LLC, Blooming Clouds LLC, Virat Solutions Inc., Oak Technologies Inc., Techpath Inc., and Techquency LLC.

KERA News

HR Dive said the Civil Investigative Demands asked employers to identify all of their employees and provide records for specific products and services, financial statements and other communications.

Paxton also tied the investigation to a broader compliance push, stating, “My office will continue working to uncover and put an end to fraud within the H-1B program.”

The Center Square reported that U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne and north Texas colleagues called for a federal investigation into alleged H-1B visa fraud in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties, arguing it “must be stamped out for economic and national security reasons.”

“Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued civil investigative demands to nearly 30 North Texas businesses accused of using “ghost offices” to sponsor H-1B visa workers fraudulently”

Newsweek

Van Duyne and other Republicans sent a letter to the vice president and secretaries of the departments of State, Labor and Homeland Security urging a coordinated, interagency investigation into reported H-1B fraud activities “including the role of employers, third-party agents, and any associated entities.”

KERA News said Paxton’s office widened a probe first begun in January and issued CIDs asking for documents identifying all employees, records detailing specific products or services, financial statements and communications related to company operations.

KERA News also noted that the statewide probe began when Paxton’s office issued CIDs to three North Texas companies in January, and it was prompted by conservative commentator Sara Gonzales accusing multiple IT consulting and software development contracting companies in North Texas of fraud.