Fake robberies allowed fake victims to apply for visas, prosecutors say

At first glance, a string of eight armed robberies at mini-marts and liquor stores in four states this year seemed like mundane crimes.

But FBI agents investigating them noticed patterns that they said could indicate a more complex operation: The robberies, including at least one involving an apparent fake gun, were staged as part of an elaborate visa fraud scheme.

Two suspects in the case, Rambhai Patel and Balwinder Singh, were charged in federal court on Tuesday with conspiracy to commit visa fraud. If convicted, they each face up to five years in prison.

Based on surveillance footage, cell phone records and interviews with a cooperating witness, the FBI concluded that alleged victims paid $10,000 each to be “robbed” in exchange for “immigration papers” and that store owners received $1,500 to $2,000 for providing locations for fake crimes . .

A criminal complaint alleges that, among other things, Mr. Patel organized the staged robberies by communicating with the store owners and alleged victims, with Mr. Singh serving as a driver.

The case highlights vulnerabilities in a federal program that puts undocumented immigrants who are victims of certain crimes on a path to citizenship by granting them visas.

The so-called U visas are granted under a 23-year-old law designed to help law enforcement agencies investigate and prosecute cases of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking, among other crimes. Congress allows the government to issue only 10,000 such visas per year, and the program’s backlog — 270,000 in 2021 — grew significantly under the Trump administration.

When the Biden administration said two years ago it would speed up the process of issuing temporary work permits to people waiting for U.S. visas, critics warned of the potential for fraud and abuse.

The agency that administers the U visa program, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, has said it cannot determine the extent of fraud within it. But the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security said in a 2022 audit that the program was “not managed effectively and is prone to fraud.”

Charges in connection with the eight armed robberies were filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and the two suspects were arrested Wednesday. Four of the robberies occurred in Massachusetts, and the others in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The suspects’ lawyers could not be reached for comment. Both suspects are in their late 30s and have an address in New York state, according to court documents.

After the first three robberies took place in Massachusetts in March, investigators believed they were linked to the same armed person, an FBI agent said in an affidavit this week. When the agency learned of other cases involving the same person, evidence suggested the robberies were not “purely commercial.”

For example, several victims had contact with Mr. Patel before the robberies, and in one case, a robber traveled by plane for a job where the money was “likely to obtain” less than the cost of the trip, the affidavit said. The agency also learned of “immigration-related activities by several store employees following their alleged victimization.”

In all but one of the eight robberies, law firms representing alleged victims applied for U visas, the FBI found.

After one of the robberies, police in Worcester, Massachusetts, searched a suspect’s vehicle and found a firearm covered in black tape. The FBI agent, Jason Kentros, wrote in his affidavit that he did not believe the gun was real.

To strengthen its case, the FBI asked a cooperating witness to introduce an undercover agent to Mr. Patel as someone who “might be interested in helping with the scheme.”

In November, Mr Patel told the undercover officer not to enter a store for a fake robbery until it was almost empty.

“How’s it going?” the officer asked during a conversation recorded on WhatsApp, referring to the robbery. “Should I jump on the counter, should I pull the gun out, what should I do?”

“Just show the gun, that’s it,” Mr. Patel said, adding, “Just take it out of the register, the money, and just give it to me.”

Christine Hauser contributed reporting.