Hundreds of staged armed robberies helped thousands pose as crime victims in US immigration scam: DOJ

A federal judge in Illinois has handed Parth Nayi a two-year prison term for his central role in a fraud that exploited protections meant for crime victims. Prosecutors say Nayi coordinated hundreds of fabricated holdups at small shops and restaurants in the Chicago region, then guided participants posing as victims through U visa applications. Thousands of people reportedly paid him for the arrangement, according to Fox News.

U visas are available to noncitizens who suffer serious crimes and assist police. Four other people, Bhikhabhai Patel, Nilesh Patel, Ravinaben Patel and Rajnikumar Patel, are charged as co-conspirators who allegedly approached Nayi to be cast as victims. Assistant U.S. Attorney Saqib Mohammad Hussain argued in the sentencing memo that Nayi stood at the center of nearly every staged incident and badly damaged a program intended for especially vulnerable foreign nationals.

Representative Christopher Smith, a New Jersey Republican, sponsored the anti-trafficking law of 2000 that established the visa. He told Fox News Digital that anyone falsifying claims to obtain government benefits should face prosecution and jail if guilty, and he called it especially egregious to misuse a program built for trafficking victims, often women and children, who are recovering from trauma.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →