Those new service sector jobs?

A Chicago man was recently handed a two-year prison sentence for his role in orchestrating staged armed robberies, with the ultimate aim of enabling the scam's victims to apply for specialized immigration visas. Over the course of two years, from 2022 to 2024, Parth Nayi masterminded and took part in numerous fake robberies across various establishments, including coffee shops, restaurants, liquor stores, and gas stations, in cities such as Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.

Nayi collaborated with others to identify individuals willing to act as victims, paid store owners to allow the staged robberies to take place, orchestrated the payments to the fake robbers, and guided the bogus victims through the entire scheme. These fake victims were each required to pay between $5,000 and $30,000 to Nayi to be part of the scam, which aimed to facilitate their future applications for Nonimmigrant U-Visas.

These visas are reserved for foreign nationals who have been crime victims and play a significant role in assisting law enforcement during the investigation. During the staged robberies, individuals posing as robbers brandished what appeared to be firearms, confronted the supposed victims, and demanded money. After the robbery, the supposed victims filed forms with local law enforcement to verify that they were indeed victims of a qualifying crime and played a helpful role in the investigation.

Once they received this certification, they then submitted fraudulent U-Visa applications to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, basing their claims on their alleged status as robbery victims.