Left: A robbery suspect holds up a Richdale Food Shop in Hingham, Mass., in March 2023 (via Hingham Police Department). Right: surveillance video of the holdup, which federal authorities was staged in an effort to acquire special U.S. visas for victims of certain crimes (screengrab via WHDH).
Two men who thought they could outfox the feds and scam their way into obtaining a special U.S. visa reserved for victims of crimes are now facing potential prison time.
Rambhai Patel, 36, and Balwinder Singh, 39, were allegedly part of a conspiracy ring that plotted staged armed robberies across several convenience stores with the apparent goal of qualifying for “U nonimmigration status,” the Justice Department announced Friday in a press release. They have been charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit visa fraud.
“A U Visa is available to victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and who have been helpful to law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity,” the DOJ explained in the statement.
The men, along with their alleged co-conspirators, are accused of carrying out staged armed robberies of at least eight convenience or liquor stores and fast food restaurants throughout the country, including at least four in Massachusetts, two in Pennsylvania, and one each in Kentucky and Tennessee.
According to the criminal complaint, the investigation into the Massachusetts robberies led authorities to think that something more was going on.
“For example, toll records analysis showed that some purported victims of the supposed robberies were in contact with Patel before the robberies,” the complaint says.
An unnamed witness, identified as “CW-1” in the complaint, outlined the details to federal inspectors.
“CW-1 explained that those people posing as victims were doing so to ‘get papers’ to allow them to stay in the country,” the complaint says.
The witness allegedly said that “each victim paid PATEL $10,000 to take part in the staged robberies for the purpose of receiving ‘papers.’ Patel knew the store owners and the store owners allowed their respective stores to be used for the staged robberies. CW-1 understood that the store owners were fully aware of the robberies.”
According to the witness, “during most of the robberies, CW-1 communicated with Patel via a Bluetooth headset. During the staged robberies, Patel would be in contact with the target store’s owner or an employee who would notify Patel when the store was empty. Patel would in turn instruct CW-1 to go inside to ‘commit’ the robbery.”
A search of the unnamed witness’ phone revealed the following WhatsApp exchange, which investigators believe was a real-time chat as a purported robbery got underway:
CW-1 PHONE to PATEL PHONE: “No one inside how many people”
CW-1 PHONE to PATEL PHONE: “Check that”
PATEL PHONE to CW-1 PHONE: “One old lady and 1 guy inside”
CW-1 PHONE to PATEL PHONE: “Soon they leave tell me”
PATEL PHONE to CW-1 PHONE: “Lady leaving”
PATEL PHONE to CW-1 PHONE: “Ok”
PATEL PHONE to CW-1 PHONE: “Leaving soon both”
CW-1 PHONE to PATEL PHONE: “Soon leave I go”
PATEL PHONE to CW-1 PHONE: “Ok”
The witness said that Patel initially promised him that the “victims” wouldn’t call the police after the would-be robberies, but later saw on the news that the police were indeed called. Investigators say that the “victims” waited at least five minutes before calling police.
At least of the robberies made the local news when it happened in March 2023.
“Officers responding to the Richdale Food Shops on Lincoln Street around 2 p.m. reviewed video showing a man brandishing a semi-automatic pistol while demanding money from three men behind the counter,” local news state WHDH reported at the time.
The witness is also alleged to have tried to minimize Singh’s role in the plot because of the friendship between the two men.
The investigation revealed that one of the people allegedly tasked with committing the robberies traveled by plane to carry out the staged crime — and that the cost of travel was worth more than the money that could have been obtained during the would-be robbery.
At least one of the guns believed to have been used during the scam was a fake, the complaint also says.
Federal authorities learned that after the “purported victimization” of the store employees, U visa applications were filed for so-called “victims” in four of the eight robbers, the complaint says.
Both Patel and Singh live in New York, although Patel was arrested Dec. 13 in Seattle, Washington. Singh was arrested that same day in Queens.
The visa fraud conspiracy charge carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison and three years of supervised release, the DOJ said.
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