Professional Placement & Recruitment Inc. operated on the 2nd floor at 51-34 Roosevelt Avenue (Google)
May 15, 2018 By Christian Murray
A Woodside woman has been charged with visa fraud for filing false documents to get Filipino nationals work visas, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Rena Beduya Avendula, 50, who owned Woodside-based Professional Place & Recruitment Inc. (PPRI), would submit fraudulent documents claiming that her clients would be employed in “specialty occupations,” therefore qualifying for H-1B work visas, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Avendula is charged with five counts of visa fraud and with conspiring to defraud the U.S. by bringing in undocumented immigrants. The scheme allegedly took place from October 2009 through February 2015.
“Avendula engineered a fraud scheme for personal profit by creating fake job positions to deceive a government program that allows a limited number of foreign nationals to enter the United States temporarily to fill highly-specialized positions,” said U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue.
Avendula’s firm specialized in recruiting nurses to work at nursing homes.
General registered nurses do not qualify for the H-1B program. The H-1B program allows foreign nationals with certain specialized skills to work in U.S. under the condition that they receive the prevailing wage rate.
Avendula secured H-1B visas by falsely stated that her clients—many of whom were registered nurses– would be working in “specialized nursing” at prevailing wage rages. However, they were working as general nurses at significantly lower rates of pay, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
According to the indictment, she sponsored dozens of fraudulent applications and profited from the filing fees she collected from the nurses and from the health care facilities that paid PPRI.
She faces a maximum of 10 years’ imprisonment for the visa fraud charges and 10 years’ imprisonment for each foreign national she induced to reside in the United States in connection with the visa fraud conspiracy.
Avendula could not be reached for comment. PPRI’s phone has been disconnected.
For a copy of the indictment, click here
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10 Comments
how can this article just gloss over the defunct establishment on the first floor? i want to know the relationship between this frauder and the lady who owned the shut-down first floor restaurant, Payag (first floor philippine karaoke bar), that closed for political reasons…
it’s the same woman, Avendula. restaurant was just a front for the real business upstairs.
same owner. master defunct
siya mismo umubos ng pera ng RDR CARGO. in the span of 7 months na bankrupt ang company! magaling siyang mag defunct ng company. RDR was running good and prosper from 2010 until she came along. Binaliktad pa niya ang story and intentionally contact TFC to broadcast her lawsuit which is a lie and has caused more problem in the recovery of RDR founder. wala siya pake alam sa mga customers ng RDR.. her intention was to create bad publicity for RDR so it wont recover. remember in the bible the story of king solomon… when a dispute of two mothers between a babys ownership.. he said to cut the child into the half.. the other one said no dont hurt the child… thats how you can tell who really has the care and malasakit. obviously no founder would want their company to go down. pls connect the dots. mas lalong nahirapan irecover ng founder ng rdr save mga container because of Renas fake and bad publicity. plus she is telling people nalugi siya sa RDR Cargo.. well if totoong nalugi ka then why did you open abtiq logistics the same nature of business 1 month after the separation last oct. 2015. you wouldnt have interest if there was no money on that industry!
Really!!
The jobs that couldn’t be shipped over seas are being filled by illegal aliens and visa programs. Just look at all the nurses and technicians at all the hospitals here in Queens and the rest of NYC. First it was the tech industry then back office securities then the medical field. There were no labor shortages in these industries that was a lye. Visa programs are used to reduce corporate wage expenses. The visa program must be shut down and companies hiring illegal aliens auctioned off to the highest bidder. The US middle class is being duped robbed and decimated.
I bet she ate lunch at Kabayan
Is this really true? I happen to know the subject personally. Some people close to her are saying this is fake news. Any links to the DA indictment for additional point of reference?Thank you.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/press-release/file/1062741/download
This is the same woman that owned the now-defunct Filipino karaoke bar in the lobby. Whoever is claiming the indictment is fake news is probably also pro-Duterte.
https://sunnysidepost.com/payag-restaurant-a-filipino-institution-in-woodside-abruptly-closes