TAMPA, Fla. — A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa investigation led to a guilty plea for an India native who falsified his naturalization paperwork.
Jaiprakash Gulvady, 51, of Land O’ Lakes, pleaded guilty to procuring citizenship or naturalization unlawfully, misusing evidence of citizenship or naturalization, making false statements in a passport application, and using a passport secured by false statements. Gulvady faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. His conviction for unlawfully procuring citizenship or naturalization will result in the automatic revocation of his U.S. citizenship when he is sentenced. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the plea agreement, Gulvady came to the United States in 2001 on a temporary business visa. In August 2008, less than two weeks after divorcing his wife — a U.S. citizen he had married the year before — Gulvady married another U.S. citizen. Based on that marriage, he adjusted his immigration status and became a lawful permanent resident in June 2009. Two months later, in August 2009, he traveled to India for the first time since his 2001 arrival in the United States. While in India, he married an Indian woman. On a subsequent visit to India, Gulvady and his Indian spouse conceived their first and only child, who was born in January 2011.
In August 2013, Gulvady’s marriage to his U.S. citizen wife was dissolved. The following year, Gulvady filed an application for naturalization and falsely stated that he was not currently married; that he did not have any children; and that he had never been married to more than one person at the same time. Based on that application, Gulvady became a naturalized U.S. citizen in August 2014. Using his fraudulently obtained Certificate of Naturalization as evidence of U.S. citizenship, Gulvady filed an application for a U.S. passport and falsely omitted his Indian spouse. The Department of State issued Gulvady a U.S. passport, which he then used to reenter the United States on at least three occasions.
HSI, with assistance from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Risha Asokan with the Middle District of Florida is prosecuting the case.
About HSI
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.