Indian American doctor gets 27 months jail for harboring undocumented workers from India

An Indian American doctor in New Jersey who admitted recruiting and hiring two Indian nationals to work as housekeepers at her and her family’s homes for eight years and failing to pay taxes on their wages has been sentenced to 27 months in federal prison.

In addition to her stint in prison, Harsha Sahni, 68, of Tinton Falls, will be subject to two years of supervised release and has been ordered to pay $728,327 in restitution and $200,000 for medical bills, the US Attorney’s Office for New Jersey said Monday.

Sahni hired two women as her housekeepers, but only paid each of their families in India $240 to $600 a month for the women to work daily from 7 am to 10 pm from 2013 through August 2021, according to a consent order filed when her medical license was suspended in September 2023.

From 2013 to 2019, Sahni also failed to pay certain taxes notwithstanding that the women were Sahni’s household employees. She also didn’t allow one of the women to receive treatment for a brain aneurysm unless she found a replacement to perform her daily duties, according to documents.

Sahni used fake names and addresses for the workers and instructed them to tell others they were related to her, federal prosecutors said. The physician also made the victims believe they would be arrested or deported if they reported the criminal activity to law enforcement, authorities said.

Sahni had a rheumatology practice in the Colonia section of Woodbridge before her license was suspended.

Sahni pleaded guilty before US District Judge Georgette Castner in February 2023 to conspiracy to conceal and harbor undocumented immigrants and filing a false tax return. Castner imposed the sentence in Trenton federal court Monday.