策划数百起假抢劫骗取U签证：Chicago郊区男子Parth Nayi被判2年联邦监禁、罚款5万美元
美国司法部伊利诺伊北区联邦检察官办公室宣布，伊利诺伊州Woodridge市29岁男子Parth Nayi因策划数百起假持械抢劫、帮助他人欺诈性申请美国移民签证，被联邦地区法官Mary M. Rowland判处2年联邦监禁，并处罚款50,000美元。Nayi今年早些时候已承认一项共谋签证欺诈罪。
检方称，2022年至2024年间，Nayi在全美多地组织并参与数百起假抢劫，作案地点包括咖啡店、餐馆、酒铺和加油站，涉及Chicago及Lombard、Elmwood Park、St. Charles、Hickory Hills、River Grove、Lake Villa、South Holland等郊区。Nayi与同伙招募假受害人、买通店主借用场地、协调并雇人扮演劫匪，还手把手教练假受害人如何行事。假抢劫中，扮演劫匪者挥舞看似真枪的武器，上前向假受害人索要钱财。
事后，假受害人向当地执法部门提交表格，取得自己是符合条件犯罪受害人且配合调查的证明，再凭此向美国公民及移民服务局（USCIS）提交欺诈性的U签证申请。U签证是为特定犯罪的外国受害人设立的非移民签证，前提是受害人对执法机关的调查或起诉有所帮助。检方称，数千名假受害人每人向Nayi支付5,000至30,000美元参与这一骗局。
助理联邦检察官Saqib Mohammad Hussain在政府量刑备忘录中表示，被告是主要组织者，几乎每一起假抢劫的核心都有他的身影，他严重腐蚀了U签证制度，而这一制度本是为保护来美期间遭遇严重犯罪的特别脆弱群体而设。国土安全调查局（HSI）Chicago办公室负责人Matthew Scarpino说，被告把一个旨在保护脆弱受害人的制度变成了牟利的犯罪生意。
此案由联邦调查局（FBI）Chicago办公室与HSI Chicago办公室调查，伊利诺伊北区联邦检察官Andrew S. Boutros宣布了判决结果。检方称，同一联邦调查中另有5人已被定罪。
Parth Nayi Sentenced to 2 Years in Federal Prison for Staging Hundreds of Robberies in U-Visa Fraud Scheme
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced that Parth Nayi, 29, of Woodridge, Illinois, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland to two years in federal prison and fined $50,000 for conspiring to stage armed robberies so that the purported victims could apply for U.S. immigration visas reserved for crime victims. Nayi pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy to commit visa fraud.
From 2022 to 2024, Nayi organized and participated in hundreds of staged armed robberies at coffee shops, restaurants, liquor stores, and gas stations throughout the country, including in Chicago and the suburbs of Lombard, Elmwood Park, St. Charles, Hickory Hills, River Grove, Lake Villa, and South Holland, prosecutors said. Nayi worked with others to recruit fake victims, pay off store owners to use their locations, coordinate and pay fake robbers, and coach the bogus victims through the plan. During the staged robberies, individuals acting as robbers brandished what appeared to be firearms, approached the purported victims, and demanded money.
Afterwards, the purported victims submitted forms to local law enforcement to obtain certification that they were victims of a qualifying crime and were helpful in the investigation, then submitted fraudulent U-visa applications to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The U nonimmigrant visa is set aside for foreign nationals who are victims of certain crimes and are helpful to law enforcement. Thousands of individuals who posed as victims each paid Nayi $5,000 to $30,000 to participate in the scam, prosecutors said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Saqib Mohammad Hussain argued in the government's sentencing memorandum that Nayi was the main organizer and at the center of almost every single one of the hundreds of staged robberies, and that he significantly corrupted the federal U-visa program, which is designed to provide a benefit to a particularly vulnerable group. Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent-in-Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Chicago, said the defendant turned a program meant to protect vulnerable victims into a criminal enterprise for profit.
The case was investigated by the FBI's Chicago Field Office and HSI Chicago, and the sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Five other individuals have also been convicted as part of the federal investigation.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：Chicago的Dirksen联邦法院大楼（本案宣判法院所在地）。照片：Ken Lund，CC BY-SA 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons。当事人无官方照片，以法院标准建筑图代之。
