• Ringleader's Sentence: Parth Nayi, 29, of Woodridge, Illinois, was sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine for organizing the nationwide immigration fraud scheme.
• The Scheme: Nayi and co-conspirators organized and participated in hundreds of staged, fake armed robberies between 2022 and 2024 at businesses (including liquor stores, coffee shops, and gas stations) across Illinois, Louisiana, Tennessee, and other states.
• The Visa Fraud: Immigrants paid thousands of dollars to act as "victims" in these staged holdups so they could file false police reports and fraudulently apply for U-visas, which provide temporary legal status to crime victims who assist law enforcement.
• The Bucktown Shooting Incident: During a staged robbery on July 13, 2023, at Bucktown Food & Liquor (1950 North Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago), one of the purported robbers accidentally discharged a firearm, shooting a 26-year-old store clerk in the abdomen and critically injuring him.
• Legal Action: Federal authorities charged multiple individuals connected to the ring (including Nayi and Kewon Young) with conspiracy to commit visa fraud and related offenses, as detailed in reports from CWBChicago and the National Review.
CWB Chicago
Bucktown clerk was shot during staged robbery tied to nationwide ...
Bucktown clerk was shot during staged robbery tied to nationwide immigration fraud scheme Bucktown Food & Liquor, 1950 North Milwaukee, was the site of one robb...
National Review
Fake Robberies Offer a Real Shot at Legal Immigration Status
Fake Robberies Offer a Real Shot at Legal Immigration Status Surveillance footage from Bucktown Food & Liquor in Chicago shows a July 2023 robbery in which a st...
CBS News
6 men charged with staging robberies in Chicago area to get visas reserved for crime victims - CBS Chicago
Defendants: Parth Nayi, Kewon Young, Bhikhabhai Patel, Nilesh Patel, Ravinaben Patel, Rajnikumar Patel (6 men charged). Charges: Conspiracy to commit visa fraud...
YouTube·CBS Chicago
2:53
Chicago armed robberies were staged so "victims" could obtain ...
Fox News
6 men charged with staging string of Chicago
May 22, 2024 — Migrants staging robberies to get visas, feds say Fox News Mike Tobin reports on how migrants are taking advantage of a victim visa rule after six were indicted...
RedState
Wild Visa Scam Had People Paying to Be 'Robbed' - RedState
The scam ran smoothly until one of those staged robberies went completely off the rails. On July 13, 2023, three masked men entered Bucktown Food & Liquor in Ch...
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