Did Walmart fire an executive who was taking $30,000 daily in kickbacks from an Indian staffing agency in an H-1B visa scandal? No, that's not true: Walmart denied the reason they fired anyone had to do with H-1B visas or a kickback scandal. The outlet that amplified the news posted a disclaimer saying they had not received verification from Walmart about the allegation.
The claim appeared in an article published on the CTOL Digital Solutions website on August 22, 2025 titled "Walmart Fires VP for Taking Daily Kickbacks Starting from $30K" (archived here) which stated:
The retail giant's abrupt severance of ties with Caspex-sourced contractors followed the firing of a Global Tech vice president who had been orchestrating an elaborate kickback operation.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Walmart Fires VP for Taking Daily Kickbacks Starting from $30K
Walmart fired Global Tech VP for daily kickbacks up to $120K from contractors, terminating 1,200 workers overnight amid corruption crackdown.
This is what the article looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: CTOL Digital Solutions screenshot taken by Lead Stories)
Switzerland-based IT consultancy website TOL Digital Solutions published the article about the firing at Walmart titled, Walmart Fires VP for Taking Daily Kickbacks Starting from $30K, on August 22, 2025. The details as published in the story were:
Over a single weekend in August, 1,200 technology contractors found themselves locked out of their systems, their access badges deactivated, their projects suspended indefinitely. The mass termination wasn't the result of budget cuts or strategic pivots--it was the fallout from a corruption scheme that reached into the highest echelons of Walmart's Global Tech division.
The retail giant's abrupt severance of ties with Caspex-sourced contractors followed the firing of a Global Tech vice president who had been orchestrating an elaborate kickback operation. Daily payments starting from $30,000 flowed from contracting agencies seeking preferential treatment in Walmart's vast technology ecosystem, sources familiar with the investigation revealed.
There was a disclaimer at the bottom of the article that read:
Disclaimer: The identity of the news submitter has been verified by us. However, we have not received any confirmation or verification from Walmart regarding the information provided.
Lead Stories reached out to Walmart and was directed to a tweet posted on X.com by Dan Barlett, the executive vice president of Corporate Affairs at Walmart on August 25, 2025 (archived here) that denied the connection between firings and an H-1B visa kickback scandal:
To set the record straight, earlier this month, following an investigation, Walmart terminated one vendor and a small number of U.S.-based associates. This investigation had nothing to do with H-1B visas and everything to do with acting with Integrity, a core Walmart value.
To set the record straight, earlier this month, following an investigation, Walmart terminated one vendor and a small number of U.S.-based associates. This investigation had nothing to do with H-1B visas and everything to do with acting with Integrity, a core Walmart value.
-- Dan Bartlett (@danbartlett6) August 25, 2025
Social media posts (archived here) shared the claim that Walmart had fired an executive in an implied H-1B visa scandal without providing sourcing to the allegation:
BREAKING - A Walmart executive has been fired after taking $30K+ daily in kickbacks from Indian staffing agencies, funneling jobs to Indian nationals while shutting out American workers and abruptly locking out 1,200 contractors.
BREAKING - A Walmart executive has been fired after taking $30K+ daily in kickbacks from Indian staffing agencies, funneling jobs to Indian nationals while shutting out American workers and abruptly locking out 1,200 contractors.
-- Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) August 25, 2025
