Exploiting a loophole in the US visa system, criminals are pocketing thousands of dollars by assisting illegal migrants in acquiring their permits.

New York men Rambhai Patel and Balwinder Singh have been arrested and charged in federal court for running a „robbery for visas” scheme.

Patel and Singh committed eight armed robberies of mini marts and liquor stores this year, but after reviewing the robberies, authorities thought they were odd. In all of the eight cases, there was an illegal immigrant present, either working as a clerk or in the store. In seven of the eight cases, the immigrants applied for a U-visa.

The U-visa issued by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is a special visa that is given to illegal, undocumented immigrants who are helpful to law enforcement when a crime is committed.

The US-based news portal Not The Bee highlights that Biden vowed to speed up the process for people waiting for U-visas, but even Biden’s Homeland Security Department says the program is „not managed effectively and is susceptible to fraud”.

The part that really tipped off the investigators about Patel and Singh is that they had to travel via airplane for one heist, and the trip cost more than the amount they took from the register. An unnamed accomplice referred to as CW-1 flipped on Patel and Singh after being arrested.

CW-1 then introduced a FBI agent posing as a new potential robber, who uncovered the sordid details of the scheme.

This is how the „robbery for visas” scheme worked: Illegal immigrants would pay Patel and Singh 10,000 US dollars to rob them. The stores would receive between 1,000 and 2,000 dollars to act as venues for the robbery, and then Patel would contact lawyers to help the „victims” apply for their U-visas. The „robbers” each got 500 dollars, and Patel took what was left.

The crew took their robbery show through Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Tennessee before finally being caught. There’s no word if the illegal immigrants trying to defraud the system have been arrested and charged in the scheme as well.