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Parth Nayi sentenced for staged robberies used in US visa fraud scheme
A Illinois man was sentenced to two years in federal prison for organizing hundreds of staged armed robberies that helped people fraudulently obtain U visas reserved for crime victims.
A man identified as the ringleader of a widespread immigration fraud conspiracy in Illinois has been sentenced to two years in federal prison, and several other suspects have been charged. Parth Nayi was sentenced Thursday for taking part in hundreds of staged armed robberies at small businesses and eateries in and around Chicago, and for helping coach supposed victims through applications for U visas in exchange for cash.
Prosecutors said Nayi was the main organizer and was involved in nearly every one of the hundreds of staged robberies carried out. In a sentencing memo, Assistant U.S. Attorney Saqib Mohammad Hussain wrote that the defendant significantly corrupted the federal U visa program, which was designed to protect foreign nationals who are victims of serious crimes while in the United States. Thousands of people who posed as crime victims paid Nayi to take part in the scheme, according to prosecutors.
The U visa was created under a 2000 law meant to protect trafficking victims and battered immigrant women. Under the process described in the case, purported victims were coached to submit I-918 Supplement B forms to law enforcement so that authorities could certify they had been victims of a violent crime. The forms were then submitted to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which handles the request for protected legal status. Prosecutors said purported victims paid Nayi as much as $30,000 to take part in the staged robberies.
Prosecutors said Nayi and another suspect, Kewon Young, recruited people to act as armed robbers, and at times those participants struck purported victims to make the staged robberies appear real. Nayi and Young organized and took part in staged robberies of shops and bodegas. Four alleged co-conspirators, Bhikhabhai Patel, Nilesh Patel, Ravinaben Patel and Rajnikumar Patel, reached out to Nayi so they could pose as victims and apply for U visas. Bhikhabhai Patel allegedly posed as a victim at a Dunkin' in Chicago in 2023 before filing a fraudulent U visa application, while Ravinaben Patel allegedly posed as a victim at a second Dunkin' and filed a false police report about the incident.
The scheme also caused serious harm. During a July 2023 staged robbery at a Chicago liquor store, one of the alleged assailants accidentally fired his weapon and critically injured an employee, according to the outlet CWB Chicago. The perpetrators then fled in a stolen vehicle. A 2024 indictment identified more than a dozen locations used in the scheme, including businesses outside Illinois such as a Subway in Louisiana and a truck stop in Middle Tennessee. The Justice Department's indictment states that five others besides Nayi have been convicted, though it does not name them.
Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., the lead sponsor of the anti-trafficking legislation that created the U visa, condemned the alleged abuse of the program. Smith told Fox News Digital that anyone who engages in visa fraud or falsifies claims to obtain a government benefit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. He said it was especially egregious to abuse a program designed to help victims of human trafficking, often women and children, who are cooperating with police.
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