Washington: American mortgage giant Fannie Mae fired around 200 employees, most of them Telugu-speaking Indian-Americans, over what the company called “ethical violations.” The action is part of a larger layoff where 700 employees were let go in total. The dismissals, which took place on April 9 and 10, caught the attention of US lawmakers, with an Indian-American Congressman seeking an explanation.
Fannie Mae, officially known as Federal National Mortgage Association, is a US government-run enterprise and the largest American company in terms of assets. According to Times Of India reports, the 200 employees were removed for allegedly misusing the company’s matching gift programme, which extends monetary support to employees’ charitable donations.
What is the fraud?
The terminated employees were accused of falsifying donations to non-profit organisations – many of which are linked to the Telugu community in the US – to fraudulently access company funds. Under the matching grants programme, Fannie Mae matches the donations made by its employees to approved nonprofits. However, in this case, fake donations were allegedly made by some employees, and the money was channeled back to them while the company’s matching contributions were retained by the nonprofits.
According to The Times of India, several employees were allegedly working in collaboration with organisations such as the Telugu Association of North America (TANA). One of those fired reportedly held the position of regional vice president at TANA, and another is said to be the spouse of a former president of the American Telugu Association (ATA).
Congressman raises concerns
The mass firing has drawn criticism from Indian-American Congressman Suhas Subramanyam from Virginia. On April 9, he released a statement saying, “It has been brought to my attention that Fannie Mae has accused hundreds of my constituents in the Indian-American community of fraudulent behaviour and fired them without conducting a full investigation or providing evidence.”
He further added, “I have spoken with many of these employees in our community, and they deserve due process. Fannie Mae owes them, Congress, and the American people an explanation immediately.”
Legal action and investigation
In December 2024, northern district of California court issued a subpoena to TANA, demanding that the organisation testify before a grand jury. The subpoena also sought records of all donations received, funds spent, and names of organisational representatives from 2019 to 2024.
Similar case at Apple
This is not the first time such a scam has come to light. In January 2025, Apple fired over 100 employees, including around 50 Indians, for allegedly being part of a similar fraudulent scheme. The incident occurred at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Reports stated that some Apple employees pretended to make donations to nonprofits and then received the money back. Meanwhile, Apple matched the “donation,” allowing the employees to claim false tax deductions and pocket the company’s contributions.
Although no Indian employees had warrants issued against them in Apple’s case, sources suggested that some were involved in working with Telugu charity organisations to execute the scam.
