'American whistleblower could receive USD 5 mln from Infosys'

A former American employee of Infosys, who had brought a whistleblower lawsuit against the IT giant, could receive about USD 5 million of the USD 34 million the Indian firm agreed to pay to settle a visa fraud investigation in the US.

Jay Palmer had filed the lawsuit in Alabama in February 2011, saying he had been punished and sidelined by Infosys executives after he reported witnessing widespread visa fraud.

While his lawsuit was dismissed last year by a federal judge, it spurred the federal investigation into Infosys' visa procedures. Palmer said the case has continued to dominate his life ever since he filed the lawsuit.

He has remained on the company's payroll while cooperating with the federal investigation but he has not been assigned any work nor has he spoken with anyone at Infosys for months, a report in the New York Times said.

The paper quoting people familiar with the case reported Palmer could receive as much as USD five million from the payment Infosys will make to the federal government, under a provision of federal false claims law.

In one of the largest immigration fines ever, the second largest software exporter from India today agreed to pay USD 34 million to settle the visa row but denied visa fraud.

Infosys allegedly sent employees to the US with B-1 visitor visas and not on H1-Bs permits designed for high-tech workers.