An Indian-origin businessman and three police chiefs in the United States have been charged with visa fraud for allegedly misusing a programme meant to protect victims of crime. Federal officials said that Chandrakant “Lala” Patel paid police officials in three cities in the state of Louisiana to create fake armed robbery reports and list individuals as victims to help them apply for special visas.
The fraud involved the U Visa programme, which allows victims of certain crimes to stay in the US if they assist law enforcement in investigations or prosecutions.
According to court documents, Patel, who had earlier received such a visa himself, paid USD 5,000 for each individual he recommended, asking the police officials to fabricate incidents and identify those individuals as victims.
A federal grand jury has framed charges of conspiracy and fraud against Patel, the police chiefs of Oakdale, Forest Hill and Glenmora, and the marshal of Oakdale.
The charging document says that none of the people listed as victims were actually harmed in any crimes, and that all parties involved were aware that the reports were false. The documents list 25 individuals, all sharing the last name Patel, identified only by their initials.
Authorities have also traced financial transactions amounting to USD 230,000 and property worth USD 51,000 linked to Patel in connection with the case. Patel was reportedly running two retail stores and a fast food outlet at the time.
Separately, at the state level in Louisiana, Allison Doyle, the wife of one of the accused police chiefs, was arrested on charges of public corruption. She has not been charged in the federal case.
This is not the first such case involving Indian-origin individuals and U Visa fraud in the US. In May this year, two men admitted in a Massachusetts federal court to staging armed robberies at various shops and restaurants to help people fraudulently qualify for U Visas.
In those cases, a person would pose as a robber, often with a firearm, and stage a robbery while the victims pretended to be threatened. The incidents were recorded, and police were contacted only after the staged robber had left. Some of the alleged victims reportedly paid thousands of dollars for these setups.
Authorities have said that investigations are ongoing and more developments may follow.
