In New York, ten Indian citizens living illegally in the United States have been indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston on charges of conspiring to commit armed robberies at convenience stores for the purpose of visa fraud.
The men were previously criminally charged in March.
They were indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud in connection with a conspiracy to commit an armed robbery at a convenience store in order to have the clerk falsely claim to be a crime victim on an immigration application.
The defendants are Jitendrakumar Patel, 39; Mahesh Kumar Patel, 36; Sanjay Kumar Patel, 45; Dipikaben Patel, 40, who was deported to India after living illegally in Massachusetts; Rameshbhai Patel, 52; Amitabh Patel, 43; Ronakummar Patel, 28; and Sangeetaben Patel, 36 Years old; Minkesh Patel, 42 years old; Sonal Patel, 42 years old.
All 10 defendants were previously charged with criminal offenses and released on conditional terms. Rameshbhai Patel and Ronakkumar Patel have been detained in immigration detention.
The Justice Department said Thursday that the defendants will be deported after completing any sentences.
The case stems from an investigation into the scheme’s organizer Rambhai Patel and getaway driver Balwinder Singh – both charged in December 2023 and later convicted in May 2025.
According to charging documents, in March 2023, Rambhai Patel and his co-conspirators planned and carried out armed robberies at at least six convenience or liquor stores and fast food restaurants in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
The robbery was allegedly planned so that the employees present would falsely claim to be victims of violent crimes when applying for U nonimmigrant status.
The AU visa is available to victims of certain crimes who have suffered emotional or physical abuse and who provide assistance to law enforcement in the investigation or prosecution of a crime.
During the alleged planned robbery, the “robber” would allegedly threaten a store clerk or owner with an apparent firearm before taking cash from the register and running away, an interaction captured on store surveillance video.
The clerk or owner would then wait five minutes or more for the alleged “robber” to escape before calling the police to report the “crime.”
Each of these “victims” allegedly paid Rambhai Patel to participate in the scheme.
In turn, Rambhai Patel paid shop owners for the use of their shops to carry out robberies.
The organizer, “bandit” Rambhai Patel, and getaway driver Balwinder Singh were convicted in May 2025.
The 10 defendants indicted today are accused of either arranging with Rambhai Patel to plan each of the robberies, or paying themselves or family members to participate as “victims.”
The visa fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.
In addition, the defendant will be deported after being sentenced.
This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.
