4 US cops helped India's Chandrakant Patel in decade-long U visa fraud in Louisiana

Indian man Chandrakant Patel was arrested and charged with visa fraud that involved fake robberies. Now it has come to the surface that 4 law enforcement officers were helping him in his decade-long operation in Louisiana.Congress created the U-visa for victims of crimes who help law enforcement authorities in the investigation of the particular crime that they faced. Foreign nationals become eligible for a U visa if they:they were the victims of qualifying criminal activity in the USthey suffered substantial physical or mental abyse as a result of the criminal activitypossessed information about the criminal activitywere helpful or were like to be helpful to alw enforcement in the investigationwere admissible to the USSuch victims could submit Form I-918 to petition for their U visa.Chandrakant Patel and U visa scamIndian-origin man Chandrakant Patel turned the visa program into a scam as he took money and organized fake robberies at restaurants so that the workers could qualify for a U visa. Court documents said Patel was a resident of Oakdale, Louisiana, and the owner two convenience stores: G&G Superette and EZ Shop. He also operated a fast-food restaurant franchise. He was granted a U visa in 2023 and he claimed that he was a victim of an armed robbery.But he had been doing this fraud since 2015 and continued doing it until July 2025 in the Western District of Louisiana and elsewhere with the help of 4 US cops. Chad Doyle, Michael Slaney, Glynn Dixon and Tebo Onishea. These cops wrote false police reports naming the 'aliens' who paid Patel as victims of alleged armed robberies.These 4 police officers took $5000 for each alien placed on a fake police report. "Patel's payment of $5,000 was in exchange for the generation of the report, the placing of an individual Alien in the report, and the subsequent U visa I-918B certification required for each Alien to apply for a U visa," the court document said.All five have pleaded guilty. Dixon, Doyle, Onishea, and Slaney each face up to 5 years in prison. Patel faces up to 20 years in federal prison. When these frauds took place, Doyle was Oakdale Chief of Police; Slaney was Oakdale Marshal for Ward 5; Dixon was Forest Hill Chief of Police; and Onishea was Glenmora Chief of Police.Catch the latest world news and top headlines. Download the TOI App.