Two Indian-origin men charged with conspiring to commit visa fraud

The visa fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

New York:

Two Indian-American men arrested in connection with an armed robbery in a visa fraud conspiracy have been indicted by a federal grand jury.

Rambhai Patel, 36, and Balwinder Singh, 39, were indicted on one count of conspiring to commit visa fraud in Boston, Massachusetts.

Patel was arrested in Seattle in December and remains in custody awaiting trial. Singer was arrested in Queens at the same time and was conditionally released after an initial court appearance in December 2023.

According to charging documents, beginning in March 2023, Patel and his co-conspirators, who at times included Singer, planned and carried out armed robberies at at least nine convenience/liquor stores and fast food restaurants across the United States, including in Massachusetts There are at least five.

The robbery was allegedly planned so that the employees present would claim to be victims of violent crime when applying for U non-immigrant status (U visa).

The AU visa is available to victims of certain crimes who have suffered emotional or physical abuse and who provide assistance to law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of a crime.

In what are known as elaborate robberies, “robbers” threaten store clerks and/or owners with apparent firearms before taking cash from the register and running away, with the interaction captured on store surveillance video.

The clerk and/or owner would then wait five minutes or more until the “robber” escaped before calling the police to report the “crime.” The “victims” allegedly paid Patel to participate in the scheme.

An individual allegedly paid $20,000 to be a victim in an elaborate armed robbery. In turn, Patel allegedly paid store owners to use their stores to carry out robberies.

At least two alleged victim co-conspirators filed U visa applications claiming they were victims of the armed robbery.

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

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