Feds Charge Police Chiefs in Immigration Fraud Scheme

Three current or former Louisiana police chiefs were arrested following a federal investigation into an alleged scheme that involved false police reports being sold to immigrants lacking permanent legal status and used to try to secure a visa, authorities say. The forged police reports would indicate that the immigrant was a victim of a crime, US Attorney Alexander Van Hook said at a news conference in Baton Rouge on Wednesday. He said the police officials were paid $5,000 for each name they provided falsified reports for, and that there were hundreds of names, the AP reports.

There had been "an unusual concentration of armed robberies of people who were not from Louisiana," Van Hook said. "In fact, the armed robberies never took place," he said. "I've worked in federal law enforcement for almost 27 years. I've never seen anything quite like this," Van Hook, said per the Advocate. "We brought these allegations against who we allege to be corrupt officials. We are not alleging that these are corrupt police departments."

• Some crime victims, and their families, may be eligible for temporary visas —and, in some cases, a path to citizenship. About 10,000 people got these "U-visas" in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, 2022, the latest period for which the Homeland Security Department has published data.

• The current or former police chiefs are from small central Louisiana municipalities that are near each other. They're in a part of the state that is home to multiple immigration detention facilities.
• The two current police chiefs—Oakdale Police Chief Chad Doyle and Forest Hill Police Chief Glynn Dixon—were arrested at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Baton Rouge while they were at a law enforcement conference, the Advocate reports. The other three, including Oakdale business owner Chandrakant "Lala" Patel, were arrested elsewhere.
• Investigators say Patel worked with law enforcement agents to create the fake reports in a scheme they believe started in 2015. Patel himself was granted a U-visa in 2023.