Indian-American pleads guilty to harbouring two undocumented women from India

An Indian-American from New Jersey Thursday pleaded guilty to harbouring two undocumented women from India and failing to pay their wages. As part of the plea agreement, the woman, Harsha Sahni, has agreed to pay the victims a combined USD 642,212 and has agreed to pay up to USD200,000 towards the treatment of one of the victims brain aneurysm. Sahni has also agreed to pay restitution to the IRS, the Department of Justice said.

According to documents, from 2013 through August 2021, Sahni conspired with others to conceal and harbor two foreign nationals from India, who Sahni recruited to work for Sahni and her family in their homes in New Jersey.

Sahni harboured the victims for her and her conspirators financial gain and paid the victims families in India in exchange for their labor.

She caused the victims to believe that they would be arrested and deported if they interacted with law enforcement, the Department of Justice said. She instructed the victims to tell other people that they were related to Sahni, and Sahni use fake names and addresses in furtherance of the conspiracy.

From 2013 to 2019, Sahni also failed to pay certain taxes notwithstanding that the victims were Sahnis household employees.

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