The immigrants involved hoped to obtain U-visas, which are available to victims of certain crimes who cooperate with law enforcement.
Immigrants are paying thousands of dollars to be “victims” of fake robberies in an effort to take advantage of a visa program that offers temporary legal status for certain crime victims.
Authorities have busted numerous schemes around the country in recent years, the largest of which involved a suburban Chicago man who organized and participated in hundreds of the fake robberies.
Parth Nayi was sentenced to two years in connection with the fraudulent immigration scheme last week and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine. The 29-year-old Woodridge previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit visa fraud earlier this year.
Nayi organized the robberies between 2022 and 2024 at coffee shops, restaurants, liquor stores, and gas stations across the country, including in Chicago and its suburbs, federal prosecutors said.
Immigrants paid Nayi between $5,000 and $30,000 each for him to recruit robbery victims, pay store owners to use their businesses, and coordinate and pay the “robbers.” The immigrants hoped to obtain U-visas, which are available to eligible victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in an investigation or prosecution. The program was created by the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in October 2000 and was intended to strengthen the ability of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute crime while also protecting victims of crimes who are willing to help law enforcement authorities in the investigation or prosecution of that criminal activity.
The visas generally offer four years of lawful temporary immigration status and the authorization to work legally in the U.S. Some relatives of U-visa recipients may also qualify for special status and many U-visa recipients ultimately qualify for permanent residency.
After the staged robberies took place, the “victims” would seek out certification from local law enforcement agencies confirming that they had been victims of qualifying crimes and had helped with investigations. The immigrants would then submit these certifications as part of their fraudulent U-visa applications to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, prosecutors said.
But on at least one occasion, the actors in the fake robbery caused very real injuries, when one of the “robbers” accidentally fired a gun in a North Milwaukee convenience store, striking and critically inuring a 26-year-old store employee. The employee, who was shot in the abdomen, survived.
More than 100 people, most of whom were of Latin and South American origin, benefited from the scheme. Seventeen specific incidents identified in a federal complaint identified locations including Subway restaurants, several Dunkin’ locations, liquor stores and gas stations.
But Nayi hasn’t been the only one cashing in on the U-visa system.
In March, eleven Indian nationals were charged in connection with a similar scheme to stage armed robberies of convenience stores to allow the store clerks to falsely claim they were crime victims on immigration applications.
Two men were charged in 2023 after they staged armed robberies in at least eight convenience or liquor stores and fast food restaurants across the U.S. in an effort to allow the clerks present to claim that they were victims of violent crime.
A Mexican national in Kansas City was charged with a similar crime in July, while authorities uncovered an even larger decade-long conspiracy in Louisiana in June that involved law enforcement agents who were bribed to fabricate police reports falsely documenting armed robberies that never occurred. The defendants in the case included Oakdale chief of police Chad Doyle, Oakdale Marshal for Ward 5 Michael Slaney, Forest Hill chief of police Glynn Dixon and Glenmora Chief of Police Tebo Onishea.
Foreign nationals would pay thousands of dollars to local business owner Chandrakant Patel, who would then obtain the falsified police reports.
All five defendants pleaded guilty in the case.