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Long Island resident Rambhai Patel, age 36, of Farmingdale, and New York City Balwinder Singh, age 39, of Queens, are charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud, the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts said. FBI agents said they linked the men to four robberies in Massachusetts, two in Pennsylvania, and one in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The dates and locations of the alleged fake robberies are:
- March 22: Richdale Food Shops, Hingham, Massachusetts
- June 6: Michael’s Wine & Spirits, Weymouth, Massachusetts
- June 9: Yogi’s Liquors, Marshfield, Massachusetts
- July 6: A1 Smoke Shop, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania
- July 14: SK’s Quick Stop, West Pittston, Pennsylvania
- July 26: Subway, Louisville, Kentucky
- August 8: Kingspoint Shell Gas Station, Bean Station, Tennessee
- September 11: Jimmy’s Market & Liquors, Randolph, Massachusetts
- October 28: Austin's Liquor, Worcester, Massachusetts
In each "heist," the robber would walk into the store, threaten the owner with a weapon, steal money from the register, and then run away. The owners would then wait five minutes before calling the police, the prosecutor said.
The robberies were captured on surveillance video, which the owners would use as evidence in their applications to receive a U Visa, immigration protections for victims of violent crimes who are helpful to law enforcement, authorities said.
Investigators quickly picked up on the similarities in the robberies and linked them. But as agents investigated, they learned the suspects would often fly to commit the heists, paying more in airfare than they could expect to make from the crime, charging documents said.
A cooperating witness told FBI agents that store owners paid Singh $10,000 for each staged robbery, and they would be in contact with him to coordinate the best time to pull off the fake heists, according to the court documents.
Patel and Singh face up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.
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