New Delhi: Somewhere in June 2023, the Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF) of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began compiling case details of a series of robberies at departmental stores in Boston. The investigators were spooked by a couple of episodes that month, which were just follow-up incidents to a robbery in March that year.
They found a breakthrough by studying the before-and-after developments in those robbery incidents and concluded that each of the three robberies was likely carried out by the same set of people.
While a visible “pattern” across the three robbery incidents was seen as a breakthrough by the FBI sleuths, additional clues appeared that turned the probe on its head. The FBI team found that the robbers had motives other than carrying out “purely commercial robberies”.
The FBI reached the conclusion at the primary level after it emerged that one of the suspects behind the series of robberies had travelled via plane, with the cost of tickets exceeding the potential value of money he may have robbed.
Over the course of the investigation, the FBI arrested and charged the alleged mastermind of the entire plot, an Indian named Rambhai Patel, in December 2023. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit visa fraud in May last year. One of his aides, another Indian named Balwinder Singh, was arrested and charged the same month, and he also pleaded guilty to the same in September 2025.
On 13 March this year, the FBI arrested 10 more Indian nationals for allegedly staging armed robberies at liquor stores and fast-food restaurants across Massachusetts—not to steal, but to create “victims”. The goal, according to the probe agency, was to help store employees falsely claim crime victim status in immigration applications and secure US visas.
The U visa in the US is set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity. A U petitioner, once granted U status, gets authorisation to work lawfully while in U status. The visa is granted for four years and can be extended in some circumstances. After three years in U status, holders may apply for a green card if conditions are met.
The accused have been identified by the US authorities as Jitendrakumar Patel, Maheshkumar Patel, Sanjaykumar Patel, Rameshbhai Patel, Amitabahen Patel, Ronakkumar Patel, Sangitaben Patel, Minkesh Patel, Sonal Patel, Mitul Patel, Rambhai Patel and Balwinder Singh. All are illegal immigrants.
Investigators said the “robbers” and “victims” were in on the act together and conspired to manufacture evidence of violent crime. The robberies were scripted down to the last detail–the “robber” would threaten store clerks or the owners with a firearm before taking cash from the register and fleeing; all this would be recorded on the store surveillance camera; after waiting five minutes, the store owners or clerks would alert the police and report the “crime”.
‘I do not believe it’s a real firearm’
Apart from the fact that the suspects’ air travels were costlier than the money made in robberies, the FBI found something even more incongruous in its probe.
After arresting Singh and one more suspect linked to the syndicate, who later turned witness (CW-1) for the investigators, the sleuths recovered a firearm from a car that was intercepted following a robbery in October 2023.
However, an FBI agent making the charges against Singh and Patel noted in the indictment document: “Based on my experience and training with regards to the size and weight of real firearms, I do not believe it is a real firearm.”
Singh and CW-1 were arrested after investigators determined they were travelling from New York to the Worcester area of Massachusetts. They had allegedly entered a store named Austin Liquors, brandished what appeared to be a firearm and took away between $200 and $300 from the store.
After their arrest, CW-1 made a voluntary confession, exposing the entire syndicate, according to the FBI. He said each victim of the robberies, including store owners, staff and some “customers” present there, had paid Patel $10,000 to take part in the staged event. The store owners allowed their stores to be used for the purpose and were given cash ranging from $1,500 to $2,000 that was to be robbed.
CW-1 also confessed that Patel had hired him since early 2023 for $1,500, when he first met Patel as a construction worker at his home in New York. On the other hand, Singh, who was mostly used as a driver for CW-1 during robberies, was given a sum of $500 per robbery.
“PATEL explained to CW-1 that he would be going into stores to commit robberies and that the people inside the stores would be aware that they were going to be robbed. Furthermore, PATEL advised CW-1 that some of the people who acted as victims did not work at the store and travelled from out of state to take part in the staged robbery,” the FBI agent documented.
The witness also revealed to the investigators that Patel was in direct contact with him during the staged robberies, which were launched at the stores after owners tipped them off about their stores being empty.
Overall, the FBI found that the syndicate carried out at least eight such robberies between March and November 2023, till both Patel and Singh were arrested and charged.
There were several clues that confirmed to the FBI agents that they were on the right track in considering the robberies to have been committed for purposes beyond commercial gain.
“When filling out a police report, a purported victim of the West Pittston, PA robbery provided an address that is the residence of PATEL in Farmingdale, New York,” the FBI agent further recorded.
In seven of the eight robbery incidents, the law firms representing the purported victim(s) submitted forms for a U visa.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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