FBI busts convenience store clerks for 'staged armed robberies' to apply for immigration benefits
Federal authorities say 11 Indian nationals were charged in a scheme to stage armed robberies at convenience stores and restaurants so participants could falsely claim to be crime victims when applying for immigration benefits.
The defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts.
Prosecutors allege the scheme centered on fake robberies designed to help clerks or store owners seek U visas, a form of immigration relief available to certain victims of serious crimes who assist law enforcement.
Six defendants were arrested in Massachusetts and released after initial appearances in federal court in Boston. Others were arrested in Kentucky, Missouri and Ohio and are expected to appear later in Boston.
An 11th defendant had previously been deported to India, authorities said.
According to charging documents, the alleged conspiracy began in March 2023 and involved at least six convenience stores, liquor stores and fast-food restaurants in Massachusetts, with additional incidents elsewhere.
Investigators say the staged robberies followed a script.
A purported robber would enter a business, threaten clerks or owners with what appeared to be a gun, take cash from the register and flee.
The encounters were captured on store surveillance video, prosecutors said, helping create the appearance of legitimate crimes.
Authorities allege the clerks or owners then waited five minutes or more before calling police, allowing the supposed robber time to escape and making the incidents appear real.
Prosecutors say the participants portrayed as victims paid an organizer to take part in the scheme. The organizer, in turn, allegedly paid store owners for the use of their businesses as robbery locations.
The alleged organizer, along with the purported robber and a getaway driver, had already been charged and convicted in the case, according to federal authorities. The 11 people charged this week are accused of either arranging robberies with the organizer or paying for themselves or relatives to be listed as victims.
The charge of conspiracy to commit visa fraud carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Any sentence would be determined by a federal judge.
According to a release from the Massachusetts Department of Justice, the following defendants have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud: