Federal authorities are investigating three current or former Louisiana State Police Chiefs who allegedly accepted bribes in exchange for submitting false police reports. These reports enabled certain crime victims, particularly non-citizens, to apply for visas that would allow them to stay in the United States.
According to U.S. lawyer Alexander C. Van Hook, these fraudulent reports falsely indicated that immigrants had been victims of crimes eligible for the U-Visa. During a press conference in Lafayette, he mentioned that officers received approximately $5,000 for each name provided for these fake reports.
“There was a notable increase in armed robberies targeting individuals from outside Louisiana,” Van Hook stated, highlighting that this scheme also involved charges against two other people.
“In reality, no armed robbery took place,” he added.
Earlier this month, a Federal Grand Jury in Shreveport indicted five defendants on 62 counts including visa fraud, bribery, mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Those charged include Oakdale Police Chief Chad Doyle, Forest Hill Police Chief Glynn Dixon, former Glenmora Police Chief Tebo Onysia, Michael “Fleck” Slaine, and Chandrakant “Lala” Patel, an Oakdale businessman.
If convicted, these individuals may face lengthy prison sentences.
Investigators allege that individuals seeking special visas were directed to Patel, who would provide payments in return for a forged police report claiming they were victims of non-existent armed robberies.
Van Hook mentioned that the scheme persisted for nearly a decade.
Obtaining a U-Visa offers crime victims and their families a pathway to U.S. citizenship. During the year ending September 30, 2022, around 10,000 visas were granted, as reported by the Department of Homeland Security.
Created by Congress in 2000, these visas aim to assist victims of specific crimes who experience mental or physical abuse, and to support law enforcement in their prosecution efforts.
“These visas are intended to aid prosecutions that rely on victim or witness testimony,” Van Hook remarked. “U-Visas serve a crucial purpose, but it’s clear they are being exploited.”
When questioned about the extent of the fraud, he noted involvement from “hundreds of names,” particularly in connection with the approved visas.
As of Wednesday morning’s press conference, at least two police chiefs had been arrested.
Leicester Duhe, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, commented that the office is assisting federal agents in their investigation.
The implicated police chiefs hail from small municipalities in central Louisiana, a region that hosts multiple immigration detention facilities. While Louisiana doesn’t share borders with other countries, it has nine ICE detention centers housing nearly 7,000 individuals.
Local news sources reported sightings of ICE and FBI agents at the homes of the police chiefs. Van Hook noted that authorities conducted searches at several police stations and sandwich shops owned by Patel.
During the press conference, Van Hook and others emphasized that these arrests do not necessarily indicate systemic corruption within the departments of the indicted chiefs.
In 2021, USCIS alerted that the U-Visa program could be vulnerable to fraud after an audit revealed flaws in the process. The audit indicated that USCIS had approved some suspicious law enforcement signatures without thorough verification and failed to effectively manage application backlogs, leaving some victims to wait nearly a decade for their U-Visas.
