Suburban man gets two years for staging hundreds of fake robberies

A federal judge in Chicago has sentenced a 29-year-old resident of Woodridge, Illinois, to two years in prison for orchestrating a nationwide network of staged robberies. The scheme allowed participants to fraudulently obtain U visas, a nonimmigrant status reserved for victims of certain crimes who assist law enforcement.

The timeline of the fraud spans from 2022 to 2024. During that period, Parth Nayi organized and participated in hundreds of simulated armed robberies at various locations, including cafes, restaurants, liquor stores, and gas stations across the United States. Nayi coordinated the operations by recruiting false victims, compensating business owners for the use of their premises, and directing fake robbers to act out the crimes. He also instructed the fictional victims on how to execute their roles in the plan.

Thousands of individuals paid Nayi between $5,000 and $30,000 each to participate in the scheme. These participants then applied for U visas based on their alleged victim status. In the staged incidents, the fake robbers carried objects that appeared to be firearms and demanded money from the participants acting as victims. Following these encounters, the participants filed forms with local law enforcement to receive certification that they were victims of qualifying crimes and had been helpful in the investigation.

Once the local authorities provided the necessary certifications, the participants submitted their fraudulent visa applications to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The agency provided valuable assistance during the federal investigation into the scheme. Five other individuals have also been convicted as part of this investigation.

Nayi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit visa fraud earlier this year. On October 22, U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland handed down the sentence. In addition to the two-year prison term, the judge imposed a $50,000 fine on Nayi.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, along with the Chicago field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Homeland Security Investigations office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced the sentencing. The case highlights the coordination between federal and local agencies in detecting immigration benefit fraud.