200 Workers are Fired by US Mortgage Giant Fannie Mae, Primarily Associated with Telugu Groups

As part of a reorganisation process, the American mortgage company Fannie Mae laid off 700 workers. Of these, 200 were primarily Telugu-born and were sacked on "ethical grounds" due to financial irregularities. Allegedly, at least 200 Indian-American workers were let go for working with Telugu groups to misuse Fannie Mae's matching grants programme. One Indian-American congressman has asked the firm for a statement in the wake of the widespread layoffs. Fannie Mae, also referred to as the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), is a government-owned company in the United States. Telugus make up the majority of the 200 employees who were sacked for salary theft, according to sources. The matching grants programme is intended to encourage charitable contributions and is a payout that is an extension of employees' compensation.

How Employees Misuse Company to Craft the Scam?

The fired employees allegedly worked with charitable groups, some of which were connected to the Telugu community in the US, and fabricated donations to obtain company funding, according to a report released by a media outlet. One of these groups is the Telugu Association of North America (TANA), which is the subject of the dispute. According to the article, one of the fired employees is the spouse of a former American Telugu Association (ATA) president, and another is the regional vice president of the TANA organisation. Already, TANA was being scrutinised for allegedly misusing corporate matching grants. A joint investigation between the FBI, IRS, and DOJ is underway. According to the report, Apple dismissed over 100 workers in January for allegedly abusing its matching grants programme. The workers allegedly conspired with nonprofits to fabricate documents and syphon off matching funds for their own use.

Congressman Putting Blame on Fannie Mae

TANA is not the only non-profit group engaged with the problem, according to people who are aware of the development. Investigations were reportedly underway on other associations as well. On April 9, Indian-American Congressman Suhas Subramanyam stated that he had been informed that Fannie Mae had accused hundreds of his Indian-American constituents of engaging in fraudulent activities and dismissed them without carrying out a thorough investigation or presenting supporting documentation. According to a media report, Subramanyam defended the workers and demanded an "immediate" answer from the business, arguing that they were entitled to due process.

Indian-American lawmakers are now standing up for the Telugu workers who were fired by Fannie Mae. Even though fraud should be treated with zero tolerance, a thorough investigation and procedure should be followed before terminating an employee. For this, the members of Congress are battling it out.