Wüstenschiff

Falsche US-Botschaft nach zehn Jahren aufgeflogen

Im westafrikanischen Ghana haben die Behörden eine falsche US-Botschaft geschlossen, die zehn Jahre lang gegen hohe Zahlungen illegal Visa und Ausweise ausgegeben hatte. Die angebliche US-Vertretung sei in einem baufälligen Gebäude in der Hauptstadt Accra von einem kriminellen Netzwerk aus Ghana und der Türkei betrieben worden, teilte das US-Außenministerium mit.

Wie kann eine Fakebotschaft 10 Jahre existieren, ohne dass es jemand merkt?

Visas for Western countries are in high demand in Africa and embassies say the visa market is a big target for organised crime.

The real US embassy in Ghana is a prominent and heavily fortified complex in Cantonments, one of the capital's most expensive neighbourhoods. Lines of people queue outside each day for visa appointments and other consular business.

The fake embassy was open three mornings a week and did not accept walk-in appointments. Instead, the criminals advertised on billboards in Ghana, Togo and Ivory Coast and brought clients from across West Africa to Accra where they rented them rooms in nearby hotels.

The crime ring issued fraudulently obtained but legitimate US visas and false identification documents, including birth certificates at a cost of $6,000 (£4,700) each, the statement said.

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 smartphones.
The statement did not say how the gang obtained the authentic visas or how many people were believed to have illegally entered the US and other countries using visas issued by the crime ring.

This investigation is a small part of the broader “Operation Spartan Vanguard" initiative. "Operation Spartan Vanguard" was developed by Diplomatic Security agents in the Regional Security Office (RSO) at U.S. Embassy Ghana in order to address trafficking and fraud plaguing the U.S. Embassy and the region.

During the course of another fraud investigation in "Operation Spartan Vanguard" an informant tipped off the ARSO-I about the fake U.S. embassy, as well as a fake Netherlands embassy operating in Accra.

After receiving the tip, the ARSO-I, who is the point person in the RSO shop for "Operation Spartan Vanguard" investigations, verified the information with partners within the Ghanaian Police Force. The ARSO-I then created an international task force composed of the aforementioned Ghana Police Force, as well as the Ghana Detective Bureau, Ghana SWAT, and officials from the Canadian Embassy to investigate further.

The investigation identified the main architects of the criminal operation, and two satellite locations (a dress shop and an apartment building) used for operations. The fake embassy did not accept walk-in visa appointments; instead, they drove to the most remote parts of West Africa to find customers. They would shuttle the customers to Accra, and rent them a room at a hotel nearby. The Ghanaian organized crime ring would shuttle the victims to and from the fake embassies. Locating the document vendor within the group led investigators to uncover the satellite locations and key players.