Three current and former Louisiana police chiefs have been charged with taking bribes in exchange for producing crime reports that would allow migrants to request U.S. visas and stay in the country. A U.S. marshal and a businessman were indicted as well.
All five defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud, prosecutors said in a news release.
The scheme lasted a decade, with the businessman, Chandrakant Patel, allegedly working as a fixer who procured the U-visas with the aid of law enforcement officials who produced the mentioned reports.
U-visas are given to victims of certain crimes who help law enforcement or government officials investigate them. NBC News noted that part of the application process requires the signature of an authorized official or law enforcement agency confirming the applicant was indeed the victim of a qualifying crime.
In this context, the people who contacted Patel would pay him thousands of dollars to be named as "victims" in police reports of an armed robbery. They would then apply for U-visas. Law enforcement officials would also produce supporting documentation in exchange for $5,000.
"There was an unusual concentration of armed robberies, a large number of armed robberies of people that were not from Louisiana," said Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander Van Hook for the Western District of Louisiana when describing the modus operandi.
"Well, in fact, the armed robberies never took place, and those listed in the applications were never victims," he added.
All accused were arrested on Tuesday. All but Patel were released the following day. If convicted, defendants could get decades in prison and be ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines.
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