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Fake US embassy shut down after 10 years

2016-12-08 Jude PandaGuidesOfficial

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Like they say ‘wonders shall never end.’ We hear about things happening around the world and can’t help but be puzzled. Imagine the ‘almighty US,’ with all their security expertise and political power couldn’t see that there was a fake US embassy in Ghana for ten years. 


Fraudsters posing as consular officers operated a fake American embassy in the Ghanaian capital of Accra for about a decade and printed counterfeit visas, a US official said Monday.

 


The pink painted two story building is where the fake embassy used to run their ten year long successful operation. They used billboards and other local means to advertise their services.


What makes this story even more interesting is that the fake embassy is believed to have been issuing ‘authentic’ visas for travel to the states. US State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, countered the belief that some people might have entered the US with visas from the fake embassy, saying that they were reproductions based on genuine travel documents the con-men had obtained. 


During the raid, genuine US visas were found at the scene which makes it hard to believe that no one was able to have entered the US with one of such visas.


Other items recovered from the fake embassy are 150 passports from about 10 different countries, laptops, and smart phones, authentic and counterfeit Indian, South African and Schengen Zone Visas.


According to a statement from the US State Department, the fake embassy was operated by “figures from both Ghanaian and Turkish organized crime rings” along with a Ghanaian lawyer specializing in immigration and criminal law.


 


The fake embassy didn’t accept walk in applicants, rather it operated strictly on prior arrangement. Investigation further revealed that the Turkish and Ghanaian criminal gangsters usually went to the remote parts of west Africa to hunt for clients and drive the prospective clients back to Accra, put them up in a hotel and ultimately charged them as much as $6,000 for ‘authentic,’ but illegally obtained, US visas and other fabricated documents, including birth certificates. 


A Ghanaian official who spoke to the press under the condition of anonymity said "This is a shocker."


Meanwhile, inside the fake embassy was US President Barack Obama’s photo hung on the wall while Turkish citizens who spoke English and Dutch acted as the “consular officers.”


The US State Department said, “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.”

 


When the authorities were asked how the fake embassy was able to operate so long, Toner suggested it might be because victims were embarrassed to report the crime.


To further discredit the validity of the visas issued by the fake embassy, Toner said “They were duped, they were conned. This fake embassy made and printed counterfeit visas using expired visas as a blueprint.


“You don’t necessarily go running to the police and say, ‘I illegally obtained a US visa and, oh, by the way it looks terrible.'”


Which I personally find hard to believe. If the fake embassy issued only fake visas how come it stayed in business for so long, adding to the fact that there has not been a direct record of anyone turned down at US airport based on the so called ‘fabricated’ visa. 

 


In contrast, the real US embassy is located at the most expensive part of Ghana. The one and only real US embassy in Ghana is heavily guarded complex at Cantonments.


Sources: AnswersAfrica.com, TheStandard.com, & VOANewis.com 



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