A fake U.S embassy in Accra, Ghana, has been shut after issuing visas and executing other diplomatic tasks for 10 years.
The US State Department has disclosed that a fake US embassy in
Accra, the Ghanaian federal capital, which is located in a run-down,
pink two-storeyed building with a corrugated iron roof and flew a US
flag, has been shutdown after issuing visas and executing other
diplomatic tasks for a decade.
The American security officials who revealed further that the sham embassy, also had a portrait of President Barack Obama, said;
“It was not operated by the United States government, but by
figures from both Ghanaian and Turkish organised crime rings and a
Ghanaian attorney practicing immigration and criminal law,” the State Department said in a statement.
According to TheCable News, Turkish citizens, who spoke English and
Dutch, posed as consular officers and staff in the operation.
Investigations also uncovered a fake Dutch embassy, the State Department
said.
The crime ring issued fraudulently obtained but legitimate US visas
and false identification documents, including birth certificates at a
cost of $6,000 each.
During raids that led to a number of arrests, authorities also
seized authentic and counterfeit Indian, South African and Schengen Zone
visas and 150 passports from 10 different countries along with a laptop
and smart phones.
The statement did not say how the gang obtained the authentic
visas; and the State Department did not say how many people were
believed to have illegally entered the United States and other countries
using visas issued by the crime ring, which used bribery to operate
unhindered.
“The criminals running the operation were able to pay off
corrupt officials to look the other way, as well as obtain legitimate
blank documents to be doctored,” the statement said.
There was no immediate comment from Ghana’s Criminal Investigations Division.
No comments:
Post a Comment