Six men staged a series of armed robberies across Chicago to help their so-called victims scoop up immigration benefits that include special visas, federal prosecutors said.
The bogus thieves would allegedly rough up the clerks at Windy City restaurants, coffee shops, liquor stores and gas stations to make the bogus attacks look real — even shooting one of their clients during a raid.
Parth Nayi, 26, and Kewon Young, 31, are accused of running the robbery ring in hopes that the US government would console their victims with the opportunity to apply for a U Visa, according to the US Attorney’s Office for Northern District of Illinois.
Bhikhabhai Patel, 51, of Kentucky; Nilesh Patel, 32, of Tennessee; Ravinaben Patel, 23, of Wisconsin; and Rajnikumar Patel, 32, of Florida, were named in the criminal complaint as some of the so-called victims who shelled out thousands of dollars to be part of the staged robberies.
Nayi and Young would then hire other individuals to carry out the fake crime by storming into the businesses with what appeared to be firearms, prosecutors said.
“At the direction of Nayi and Young, the individuals acting as robbers, on certain occasions, struck purported victims to make the staged robbery appear real,” the complaint states.
One of the fake robberies had real consequences when one of the fraudulent robbers allegedly shot a 26-year-old clerk who was working at the Bucktown Food & Liquor store.
Surveillance video shows the clerk and five other customers handing over their wallets to the two masked men who stormed into the store in July 2023 — only for one of the bandits to fire at the worker’s abdomen.
The clerk was rushed to the hospital in critical condition but miraculously survived the attack.
In total, the robbery ring staged at least 16 fake robberies across Chicago and its suburbs between December 2022 and January 2024.
Several of their so-called victims, in turn, applied for U Visas, which are set aside for 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.
All six men are charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud. Ravinaben Patel was also charged with making a false statement in a visa application.
The scheme is not novel — in January, two New York City men were arrested for staging armed robberies at convenience stores and fast food joints across the country to help their victims reap immigration benefits.
Similar to the Chicago crew, the two men threatened store clerks with weapons before snatching cash from either the register or their persons.
Most of the eight staged robberies occurred in front of the store’s surveillance camera so that the victims could conveniently back up their claims.