Indian American Doctor in N.J. Admits Harboring Undocumented Domestic Workers From India

A New Jersey doctor has pleaded guilty to harboring two undocumented women from India and failing to pay taxes on their wages, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Harsha Sahni, 66, of Tinton Falls, admitted in a Trenton federal court last week that she recruited the two women to work for her and her family in their homes in New Jersey.

For a duration of almost eight years, the Indian American allegedly conspired with others to conceal and harbor the domestic help “for her and her conspirators’ financial gain and paid the victims’ families in India in exchange for their labor, according to the Department of Justice. She is charged with one count of conspiracy to conceal and harbor aliens and one count of filing a false tax return.

She caused the victims to believe that they would be arrested and deported if they interacted with law enforcement, the DoJ said. She further instructed the victims to tell other people that they were related to her. Additionally, she used “fake names and addresses in furtherance of the conspiracy,” the DoJ said. She also failed to pay certain taxes from 2013 to 2019 for her household employees.

As a part of the plea agreement, she has agreed to pay the victims “a combined $642,212 and has agreed to pay up to $200,000 towards the treatment of one of the victim’s brain aneurysm,” the DoJ said. She has also agreed to pay restitution to the IRS. She could face up to 10 years in federal prisonSentencing is scheduled for June 20.

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(Top photo, representative file image)