OAN's Elizabeth Bolbelding
4:28 PM – Monday, January 1, 2024
Two men from New York City committed multiple fake armed robberies at convenience stores and fast food restaurants across the United States to obtain immigration benefits, federal prosecutors said.
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On Friday, federal prosecutors said two men from New York City, identified as Ranbhai Patel, 36, and Balwinder Singh, 39, were arrested at several convenience stores and fast food stores across the country. They announced that they had carried out a fake armed robbery at the store.
December 13ththMr. Patel and Mr. Singh were arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud for allegedly allowing theft “victims” to sign up for special immigrant visas.
Federal prosecutors said Mr. Patel and Mr. Singh were involved in “at least eight” of the fake robbery charges.
In these incidents, “robbers'' threatened store employees with what appeared to be firearms in front of the store's surveillance cameras and stole cash from the cash register.
Prosecutors also said the scheme first began back in March 2023.
They explained that the plan required store staff to wait “at least five minutes” after the robber fled before reporting the “crime” to police.
Each of the alleged robberies' “victims” gave Patel money to take part in the fake prank, while Patel paid each store owner to use their store for the staged robbery. . All employees and owners of the store are said to have been involved in the scheme.
The planned robbery was carried out to give the store clerks the opportunity to apply for special “U visas.” The visa allows immigrants to stay in the U.S. for an additional four years if they have been “mentally or physically abused.”
The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) claims that U visas are “ostensibly intended to assist in the prosecution of crimes.”
Singh, who was being held in Queens, appeared in federal court in Boston.
Meanwhile, Patel, who was arrested in Seattle and ordered to be held pending trial, is expected to face federal prosecutors in Boston in the future, prosecutors said.
If convicted, the two could face up to $250,000 in fines and five years in prison.
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