(The Center Square) – Federal prosecutors are concerned about bond conditions for a man accused of staging armed robberies to help purported victims get U.S. immigration visas reserved for crime victims.
A defense attorney for Parth Nayi, one of six people accused in the scheme, has asked a judge to accept bond conditions that prosecutors opposed. Nayi’s attorney, George Gomez, offered up a $400,000 bond secured through two real estate properties and Nayi’s passport. Prosecutors said they were concerned Nayi could flee the country and sought more stringent conditions.
Prosecutors also brought up discrepancies with Nayi’s income. Nayi told pretrial services that he worked as a delivery driver making $3,000 a month for the past two years, according to court records. However, prosecutors said that from 2022 through December 2023, Nayi gambled almost $1.4 million in cash at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Illinois.
During that same time period, prosecutors said Nayi lived with his parents and staged 30 separate armed robberies as part of the immigration fraud conspiracy. Nayi and a co-defendant – Kewon Young, a 31-year-old from Mansfield, Ohio – allegedly organized the scheme from July 2022 through January 2024. They charged the so-called victims of the staged robberies, all of whom were foreign nationals from India, thousands of dollars to participate in the scheme.
Prosecutors said they participated in staged armed robberies at restaurants, coffee shops, liquor stores and gas stations in the Chicago area.
The indictment alleges four people paid Nayi thousands of dollars to be purported victims. The four charged were Bhikhabhai Patel, Nilesh Patel, Ravinaben Patel, and Rajnikumar Patel. The arrangement was so that they could submit applications for U nonimmigrant status. Such “U-visas” are set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in an investigation or prosecution, according to the indictment.
During the staged robberies, prosecutors said people acting as robbers brandished what appeared to be firearms, approached the purported victims, and demanded money.
The conspiracy charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. The false statement charge is punishable by up to ten years.
A hearing on the bond motion is scheduled for 11 a.m. Aug. 2 in Courtroom 1386 at the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse in Chicago.
