11 Indian Nationals Charged in US Over Visa Fraud Scheme

New York: According to US federal prosecutors, 11 Indian citizens living illegally in the US have been charged with visa fraud for conspiring to commit armed robbery at grocery stores. The suspects are accused of staging fake robberies to allow store clerks to falsely claim to be crime victims on immigration applications to obtain Green Cards, authorities said.

Jitendrakumar Patel, 39, Maheshkumar Patel, 36, Sanjaykumar Patel, 45, Dipikaben Patel, 40, Rameshbhai Patel, 52, Amitabahen Patel, 43, Ronakkumar Patel, 28, Sangitaben Patel, 36, Minkesh Patel, 42, Sonal Patel, 42, and Mitul Patel, 40, are charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud. was accused.

All of them were living illegally in various US states such as Massachusetts, Kentucky and Ohio. Dipikaben was deported to India after illegally residing in Weymouth, Massachusetts, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

Jitendrakumar, Maheshkumar, Sanjaykumar, Amitabahen, Sangitaben and Mitul were arrested in Massachusetts and released after an initial hearing in federal court in Boston on Friday.

Rameshbhai, Ronakkumar, Sonal and Minkesh were arrested and surfaced for the first time in Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio. They will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.

According to charging documents, in March 2023, Rambhai and his co-conspirators organized and carried out armed robberies of at least six convenience stores/liquor stores and fast food restaurants in Massachusetts and elsewhere.

The purpose of the staged robberies was allegedly to enable the clerks present to falsely claim that they were victims of a violent crime on an application for U.S. non-immigrant status (U Visa).

The AU Visa is available to victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and assist law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity. The U visa offers an immigrant work permit and a path to a Green Card within 5-10 years.

Authorities said that during the alleged robberies, the “robber” threatened store clerks or store owners with a firearm before taking the money from the safe and running away, and this interaction was recorded on the store security camera.

Clerks or store owners would then wait five or more minutes until the “robber” escaped before calling the police to report the “crime.”

Each of the “victims” allegedly paid Rambhai to participate in the scheme. In return, Rambhai allegedly paid the store owners in exchange for the use of their stores for the staged robbery.

“Robber” Rambhai and the getaway driver were previously charged and convicted.

The 11 defendants charged Friday allegedly either agreed with the organizer to organize each robbery or paid for themselves or a family member to participate as a “victim.”

The conspiracy to commit visa fraud charge carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.