Six men have been charged with staging a string of armed robberies across Chicago and its surrounding suburbs so that the victims of these allegedly fake crimes could apply for special U.S. immigration visas reserved for crime victims, federal authorities said Friday.
The two men accused of organizing and carrying out the staged robberies were identified as Parth Nayi, 26, of Woodridge, Illinois, and Kewon Young, 31, of Mansfield, Ohio, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois said.
The alleged scams were carried out at restaurants, coffee shops, liquor stores and gas stations in Chicago and the suburbs of Lombard, Elmwood Park, St. Charles, Hickory Hills, River Grove, Lake Villa, and South Holland, as well as restaurants in Rayne, Louisiana, and Belvidere, Tennessee, authorities said.
One of the incidents happened in July 2023 at Bucktown Food & Liquor in Chicago, according to prosecutors. The ruse, however, nearly turned deadly when the clerk was shot. The clerk survived the encounter.
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One fake robbery ended with a clerk at Bucktown Food & Liquor getting shot. The clerk survived the encounter. (Bucktown Food & Liquor)
The purported victims were identified as Bhikhabhai Patel, 51, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Nilesh Patel, 32, of Jackson, Tennessee, Ravinaben Patel, 23, of Racine, Wisconsin, and Rajnikumar Patel, 32, of Jacksonville, Florida.
The purported victims allegedly paid two men to organize and carry out the fake robberies. (FOX29 Philadelphia WTXF)
Prosecutors alleged that the four men paid Nayi thousands of dollars to stage the crimes so they could submit applications for U nonimmigrant status, known as U-visas.
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These visas are set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are assisting law enforcement in an investigation or prosecution. It allows the victims to move to the front of the line to obtain temporary legal status for three years, during which time the victims can often get green cards.
The visas were created in 2000 to prevent illegal immigrants who are victims of crimes from being deported after reporting a crime or before a criminal trial.
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All six men are charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud. Ravinaben Patel was additionally charged with one count of making a false statement in a visa application.
