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Woodridge resident gets 2 years for fake robberies tied to U-visa applications
Parth Nayi was sentenced to two years in federal prison and fined $50,000 for organizing staged robberies used to support fraudulent immigration applications. Prosecutors said the scheme included locations in Chicago and several nearby suburbs.
A Woodridge man was sentenced Thursday to two years in federal prison for helping organize staged robberies across the country to support fraudulent applications for U.S. immigration visas, federal prosecutors said.
Parth Nayi, 29, also was fined $50,000. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to commit visa fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Prosecutors said Nayi was the scheme’s main organizer and took part in hundreds of staged armed robberies from 2022 through 2024. The incidents were arranged at businesses including coffee shops, restaurants, liquor stores and gas stations. In the Chicago area, locations included Chicago, Lombard, Elmwood Park, St. Charles, Hickory Hills, River Grove, Lake Villa and South Holland.
Nayi and others recruited people to pose as robbery victims, paid business owners to use their locations, arranged and paid fake robbers, and coached participants on how to carry out the plan, prosecutors said. They alleged that thousands of people paid Nayi between $5,000 and $30,000 to take part.
The participants then sought U visas, a form of temporary immigration status available to certain noncitizens who are victims of qualifying crimes and assist law enforcement. Prosecutors said the applications falsely claimed the applicants had been robbery victims and relied on police certifications obtained after the staged incidents.
Five other people were convicted in the federal investigation, prosecutors said.