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Press Release

Defendant Ramachandran Vavivello Aka Vicraama Sarada Aka Vic Rama Sentenced Today In District Court Of Guam

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Districts of Guam & the Northern Mariana Islands

ALICIA A.G. LIMTIACO, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that RAMACHANDRAN VADIVELLO aka VICRAAMA SARADA aka VIC RAMA (“VIC RAMA”), was sentenced today in the District Court of Guam by Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, to six months home confinement followed by five years probation.  VIC RAMA was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims in this case in the amount of $117,197.29.

Defendant VIC RAMA pled guilty on March 26, 2013, to the offenses of Mail Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1341, Visa Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1546(a), and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.

Defendant VIC RAMA is the owner of Transrama Guam, Inc., a construction company on Guam.   VIC RAMA petitioned the Guam Department of Labor to hire ten (10) highly skilled H-2B alien workers from Malaysia and Indonesia.  VIC RAMA misrepresented to the Guam Department of Labor that the H-2B alien workers would work as heavy equipment mechanics and carpenters on Guam, and that they would be paid the prevailing wage rates.  Based on VIC RAMA’S representations, the Department of Labor and the Governor of Guam approved the employment of the H-2B workers.  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services then issued visas permitting the H-2B workers entry to work on Guam for one year.

Rather than employing the H-2B alien workers as heavy equipment mechanics and carpenters, VIC RAMA assigned the workers to perform manual labor which included irrigation work, landscaping and painting at the Leo Palace Resort.  VIC RAMA also withheld full salaries from the alien workers and farmed the workers out to another local construction company, in violation of the terms of their admission to Guam.

U.S. Attorney Limtiaco states, “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to holding accountable those defendants who attempt to erode the public’s trust in our government.   Cases involving the abuse of H-2B alien workers and the H-2B approval process, are frauds committed against both local and federal government agencies.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office will prosecute these cases and will make all efforts to restore the victim’s losses.”

The investigation was conducted by Special Agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Section.  The case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosetta SanNicolas.

Updated January 7, 2015