A 33-year-old Gujarati man is under scanner in the US for allegedly providing forged American green cards sourced from China to illegal immigrants. A native of Matar taluka in Kheda, the man, identified as Atul Patel (name changed), had moved to the US in 2007. The Pennsylvania resident is accused of posing as an Indian embassy employee and carrying an identity card showing him as a district officer in New York.
Patel’s name emerged within the undocumented immigrant community when he allegedly took $70,000 from a woman from Kheda in exchange for a green card. However, when she received the card, she found it to be of substandard quality, with a silver stamp on the head that tore out easily. When she questioned Patel about the card’s authenticity, he gave an unsatisfactory answer and offered to return the money to her.
A source privy to the developments in the case said, “Patel usually offers green cards in the IR-1 category, also called spouse green cards, by presenting his clients as being married to American citizens. He also offers employment-based green cards for researchers and investors, claiming to have links with the Indian embassy and the US agencies. However, the cards are printed in China.”
One of the victims allegedly duped by Patel said that he was taken to a location where his biometrics were taken. “I received my green card in a couple of minutes. I later learned that it was a counterfeit,” the victim said. Another source said that Patel might have access to green card records.
