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Indian to be extradited from U.S. over visa fraud
Prosecutors said the scheme used staged armed robberies to support fraudulent U Visa applications by falsely portraying participants as crime victims.
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Malvika Choudhary - Thu, 30, Jul 2026
- 13:41 EDT
- 44
Representative image / Consulate General of India in Russia
An Indian national has been ordered removed from the United States after being sentenced for his role in a visa fraud conspiracy involving staged armed robberies.
Mitul Patel, 40, who was unlawfully residing in Worcester, Massachusetts, was sentenced to time served (one day) in prison, fined $1,000 and ordered removed from the United States by U.S. District Judge Myong J. Joun on July 29.According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, Patel pleaded guilty in June 2026 after being charged in March alongside 10 others in the conspiracy.
Also Read: Indian national gets 48 months in Wisconsin fraud case
Court documents state that Mitul Patel paid Rambhai Patel to participate as a purported victim in a staged armed robbery at a Worcester convenience store in October 2023.
According to federal prosecutors, the scheme began in March 2023 when organizer Rambhai Patel and his co-conspirators allegedly staged armed robberies at at least six convenience stores, liquor stores and fast-food restaurants in Massachusetts and other states.
The robberies were allegedly orchestrated to allow store clerks to falsely claim they were victims of violent crimes and apply for U non-immigrant status, or U Visas, which are available to certain crime victims who have suffered mental or physical abuse and assisted law enforcement.
Prosecutors said the staged robberies involved a purported robber threatening store clerks with what appeared to be a firearm before taking cash from the register and fleeing while surveillance cameras recorded the incidents.
The clerks allegedly waited several minutes before reporting the crimes to police. Authorities further alleged that the purported victims paid Rambhai Patel to participate in the scheme, while he paid store owners to use their businesses for the staged robberies.
The alleged organizer, Rambhai Patel, along with the individual who acted as the robber and getaway driver, Balwinder Singh, was previously charged and convicted in May 2025.
U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston Division, announced the sentencing. The investigation involved assistance from multiple U.S. Attorney's Offices, FBI field offices, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Massachusetts State Police and several local law enforcement agencies.
The U.S. Attorney's Office noted that the allegations in the charging documents apply to the remaining defendants, who are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
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