Store Robbery Exposed As Green Card Scheme. Clerk Deported to India - Newsweek

A South Carolina convenience store owner has pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge after prosecutors said he staged a robbery of his own store to make an Indian clerk appear to be a crime victim and help him obtain immigration status that can provide a path to a green card.

Birenkumar Rameshbhai Patel, 47, of Columbia, admitted conspiring to obtain a U visa illegally, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina announced Monday. A federal judge accepted his plea and will sentence him after receiving a report from the U.S. Probation Office. The clerk involved in the scheme has since been deported to India, according to the Justice Department (DOJ). The government's announcement does not identify him by name or state that he was separately charged or convicted in connection with the scheme.

The Trump administration has stepped up efforts to combat immigration fraud, increasing scrutiny of visa applications and fraud detection across the immigration system. The Justice Department has also filed 123 denaturalization cases against naturalized Americans accused of obtaining citizenship through fraud or concealing disqualifying conduct since President Donald Trump returned to office.

Federal court records show that on March 9, 2025, Patel and the clerk staged a robbery at Patel’s convenience store in Fairfield County, South Carolina, to make it appear that the clerk was the victim. The clerk is identified in the charging document only as "C1."

Newsweek has contacted Patel's attorney, Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department and the DOJ for comment and is awaiting responses.

Patel covered his face, wore a long-sleeved jacket, and acted as if he were robbing the clerk, prosecutors said. Someone then called 911 to report the purported robbery, per court filings. Officers who responded reviewed surveillance footage that appeared to show a robbery, and the clerk was taken to a hospital.

Investigators later determined that the incident had been staged, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors said the robbery was intended to create evidence supporting the clerk’s effort to obtain a U visa, which is available to qualifying victims of certain crimes who assist law enforcement. The status can provide eligible recipients a path to permanent residency and ultimately U.S. citizenship.

The clerk had entered the United States illegally on September 18, 2024, and was in the process of being deported when the purported robbery occurred, according to the federal records. He had a hearing scheduled for March 13, 2025, four days after the staged incident.

On March 24, Patel made what prosecutors described as an unsolicited donation to the Fairfield County Sheriff’s "Christmas party." The following day, Patel and the clerk requested a copy of the incident report from the March 9 event.

On April 3, Patel and the clerk sent paperwork to the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department seeking certification that the clerk was the victim of a "felonious assault," court records show.

Such a certification can form part of a U visa application. The Justice Department said officials determined that the clerk was an Indian citizen and that obtaining a U visa would have allowed him to remain legally in the United States.

On April 22, Patel asked the sheriff’s office to speak with an individual identified as "Sam," saying he spoke better English and could better explain what happened. Court records say Sam asked investigators to state in the police report that the clerk had seen the barrel of a gun, had been struck in the back of the head, and had suffered an injury.

Federal prosecutors charged Patel with conspiring to submit materially false statements in connection with a U visa application, alleging that the conspirators knew the clerk had not actually been the victim of the purported crime.

Patel pleaded guilty to the conspiracy count on September 24. The court found him competent to enter the plea and accepted it, according to the docket information provided with the court records. He remained free on a $25,000 unsecured bond following the proceeding.

Patel faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, a fine of up to $250,000, restitution and three years of supervised release, according to the Justice Department. U.S. District Judge Joseph A. Anderson Jr. will impose the sentence after reviewing the probation office’s sentencing report.

In a separate case, 11 Indian nationals were charged in March with conspiring to arrange staged armed robberies to support fraudulent U visa applications. Prosecutors said those robberies were intended to generate police reports and other evidence that could make participants appear to be crime victims.