A suburban Chicago man ran a scheme so brazen that people paid him thousands of dollars to be “robbed” at gunpoint, hoping a fake crime report would unlock a path to a U.S. visa.
Story Snapshot
- Parth Nayi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit visa fraud and was sentenced to two years in federal prison plus a $50,000 fine.
- Federal prosecutors say participants paid Nayi between $5,000 and $30,000 each to stage armed robberies they could later report to immigration officials.
- The indictment names six defendants and points to staged robberies at restaurants, coffee shops, liquor stores, and gas stations across several states.
- A store clerk in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood was actually shot during one of the staged robberies tied to the scheme.
A Prison Sentence That Outpaced What Prosecutors Wanted
U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland sentenced Nayi on October 22, 2026, to two years behind bars. That term ran a full year longer than what federal prosecutors had actually asked for. The judge also tacked on a $50,000 fine. Nayi had pleaded guilty months earlier, in January 2026, to conspiracy to commit visa fraud, closing out a case that started with a federal indictment unsealed back in May 2024.
The case centers on the U visa, a special immigration status created for victims of serious crimes who cooperate with police. Unlike most immigration benefits, a U visa application does not require that anyone actually be arrested or convicted for the underlying crime. Applicants mainly need documentation of victimization and a law enforcement certification confirming they helped investigators. That built-in trust is exactly what prosecutors say Nayi exploited.
Staged Crimes Across State Lines
The original indictment, unsealed in May 2024, named six defendants: Nayi, Kewon Young, Bhikhabhai Patel, Nilesh Patel, Ravinaben Patel, and Rajnikumar Patel. Prosecutors allege the group staged armed robberies at businesses in Chicago’s suburbs, in Rayne, Louisiana, and in Belvidere, Tennessee. Federal officials described the operation as spanning hundreds of staged robberies between 2022 and 2024, a scope that suggests organized planning rather than a one-off scam.
Prosecutors say the business model was simple and lucrative. People who wanted a fast-tracked claim for a U visa paid Nayi between $5,000 and $30,000 to arrange their own staged robbery. A separate Justice Department filing describes individuals paying up to $30,000 apiece to take part. Each fake crime became a paper trail a hopeful applicant could hand to immigration officials as proof of victimization.
When the Fake Robbery Turned Real
The scheme’s danger became impossible to ignore when a store clerk in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood was shot during one of the staged robberies connected to the operation. Local reporting ties the shooting directly to the broader visa-fraud scheme under investigation. A plan built on actors playing armed robbers, carried out over and over in real businesses, carried an obvious risk that someone would eventually get hurt for real.
Nayi’s defense attorney, George M. Gomez, pushed back on parts of the government’s framing during sentencing. He argued the robberies involved no true victims and no violence against unwilling participants, since everyone involved had agreed to take part. He also said Nayi did not personally prepare or file the fraudulent paperwork, that his role was limited, and that he cooperated with investigators after his arrest.
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— M.A. Rothman (@MichaelARothman) October 26, 2026
What the Case Says About the U Visa System
This is not the first time federal investigators have flagged weaknesses in immigration benefit programs that rely heavily on self-reported documentation. Government auditors have found fraud indicators scattered across multiple visa and benefit categories in recent years, though those broader figures don’t prove how common schemes like Nayi’s actually are. Treating one elaborate Chicago-area conspiracy as proof that most U visa claims are fake would be a mistake. The strength of this case rests on the specific robberies, payments, and guilty plea tied to Nayi himself.
Still, the scheme exposes a real vulnerability. When a crime report, a police certification, and an immigration application can all be arranged by the same small group of people, the honor system at the heart of the U visa program gets tested. Judge Rowland’s decision to hand down a longer sentence than prosecutors requested signals that federal courts are taking that vulnerability seriously, especially once a staged crime turned into an actual shooting.
Sources:
redstate.com, chicagotribune.com, fox32chicago.com, lakemchenryscanner.com, justice.gov, dailywire.com
