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A defense attorney for Parth Nayi, one of six people accused in
the scheme, has asked a judge to accept bond conditions that
prosecutors opposed. Nayi's attorney, George Gomez, offered up a
$400,000 bond secured through two real estate properties and
Nayi's passport. Prosecutors said they were concerned Nayi could
flee the country and sought more stringent conditions.
Prosecutors also brought up discrepancies with Nayi's income.
Nayi told pretrial services that he worked as a delivery driver
making $3,000 a month for the past two years, according to court
records. However, prosecutors said that from 2022 through
December 2023, Nayi gambled almost $1.4 million in cash at
Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Illinois.
During that same time period, prosecutors said Nayi lived with
his parents and staged 30 separate armed robberies as part of
the immigration fraud conspiracy. Nayi and a co-defendant –
Kewon Young, a 31-year-old from Mansfield, Ohio – allegedly
organized the scheme from July 2022 through January 2024. They
charged the so-called victims of the staged robberies, all of
whom were foreign nationals from India, thousands of dollars to
participate in the scheme.
Prosecutors said they participated in staged armed robberies at
restaurants, coffee shops, liquor stores and gas stations in the
Chicago area.
The indictment alleges four people paid Nayi thousands of
dollars to be purported victims. The four charged were
Bhikhabhai Patel, Nilesh Patel, Ravinaben Patel, and Rajnikumar
Patel. The arrangement was so that they could submit
applications for U nonimmigrant status. Such "U-visas" are set
aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or
physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government
officials in an investigation or prosecution, according to the
indictment.
During the staged robberies, prosecutors said people acting as
robbers brandished what appeared to be firearms, approached the
purported victims, and demanded money.
The conspiracy charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of
five years in federal prison. The false statement charge is
punishable by up to ten years.
A hearing on the bond motion is scheduled for 11 a.m. Aug. 2 in
Courtroom 1386 at the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States
Courthouse in Chicago.
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