Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06GEORGETOWN60
2006-01-18 21:16:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Georgetown
Cable title:  

FRAUD SUMMARY - GEORGETOWN, GUYANA

Tags:  KFRD CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC KCRM GY 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 GEORGETOWN 000060 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/FPP;
DEPT ALSO PASS TO KCC;
POSTS FOR FRAUD PREVENTION AND HUMAN SMUGGLING AND
TRAFFICKING CENTER, INL/HSTC.
CARACAS ALSO FOR DHS AND LEGATT
PORT OF SPAIN ALSO FOR DEA AND A/LEGATT
BRIDGETOWN ALSO FOR ORA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC KCRM GY
SUBJECT: FRAUD SUMMARY - GEORGETOWN, GUYANA

Ref A) 2005 STATE 205073,
B) 2005 GEORGETOWN 1043
C) 2005 GEORGETOWN 1093

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 GEORGETOWN 000060

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/FPP;
DEPT ALSO PASS TO KCC;
POSTS FOR FRAUD PREVENTION AND HUMAN SMUGGLING AND
TRAFFICKING CENTER, INL/HSTC.
CARACAS ALSO FOR DHS AND LEGATT
PORT OF SPAIN ALSO FOR DEA AND A/LEGATT
BRIDGETOWN ALSO FOR ORA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC KCRM GY
SUBJECT: FRAUD SUMMARY - GEORGETOWN, GUYANA

Ref A) 2005 STATE 205073,
B) 2005 GEORGETOWN 1043
C) 2005 GEORGETOWN 1093


1. SUMMARY: Economic and cultural pressure to migrate
continues to motivate all forms of immigration fraud in
Guyana. Cooperation with elements of the Government of
Guyana (GoG) and civil society enables post to detect and
combat some types but corruption and cultural support for
migration complicate the task. Recent months have seen the
emergence of new fraud trends, the continuation of old
trends and the first visa scam fraud conviction in recent
memory. END SUMMARY.

--------------
COUNTRY CONDITIONS
--------------


2. Guyana is an impoverished South American country with a
population of 751,223 (2002 census). The population is
primarily of African or East Indian descent with smaller
groups of Chinese, Portuguese and Amerindians. Nearly 90%
of the population lives along the coast, the interior is
largely unpopulated and undeveloped. Guyana is English-
speaking and culturally West Indian with few cultural or
economic ties to the rest of South America. Guyana has the
second highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the western
hemisphere and is one of fifteen focus countries for the
President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Guyana
is democratic but voting is divided on ethnic lines and
elections have been marred by post-election violence.


3. Legal and illegal emigration from Guyana is very high.
More than 400,000 Guyanese live in the U.S. and Canada; an
additional 6800 legally immigrate to the U.S. each year
(almost 1% of the total population). Emigration to the UK
and the rest of Caribbean are also significant. A recent
OECD study showed that 85% of Guyanese university graduates
leave Guyana and that most high school students intend to
leave. Crime, poverty and political instability create
strong push factors while the large overseas Guyanese
community pulls. Many Guyanese see emigration as the best
and only chance for a brighter future.



4. Fraudulent documents and legitimate documents obtained
under false pretenses are easy to obtain. Quality control
and document security are low priorities, passport
biographic information and amendments are hand-written. The
only security features in civil documents are a dry seal and
signature. Talented forgers in Guyana sell packages of
false documents. Corruption is also high. Transparency
International gives Guyana a rating of 2.5 out of 10, one of
the lowest in the region. The Thomas Carroll scandal in
1999 fostered the perception of corruption in the Embassy.
The procedures for issuing legitimate documents are not very
secure. Many births are late registered. Post has seen
individuals whose births were legitimately registered when
they were 20 or older. Community Health Workers are
supposed to complete registration documents for births they
assist but this is not done consistently. National ID cards
are issued by the Guyana Elections Commission and can be
obtained with a birth certificate. Name changes are quite
common and can be achieved with little more than a sworn
affidavit. These can then be used as seed documents to
obtain a legitimately issued Guyanese passport. Post knows
of at least one smuggler who obtained a legitimate passport
under a false identity. (See IV fraud for more details)

--------------
NIV Fraud
--------------


5. Continuing enhancements in secure visas lead more
Guyanese to seek legitimate visas with false seed documents
such as bank letters, employment letters, marriage
certificates and property deeds. The consular section has
coordinated with several banks to standardize their bank
letters and improve document security. Banks are also
encouraged to include 3 months of transactions with
statements to guard against applicants who borrow money just
before applying to inflate their assets. FPU maintains
numerous exemplars of genuine and false documents and each
day verifies documents with the issuer.

6. Travel histories are difficult to verify and immigration
officials reportedly backdate reentry stamps for travelers
who overstay on an NIV. Informants have also stated that
the Guyanese Consulate in New York will sell emergency
certificates to allow Guyanese to return without a passport.
The passport is then carried in a suitcase and backdated in
Guyana. Another tactic to mask an extended stay in the US
is to apply for another passport claiming the original was
lost or stolen. This tactic is so common the Guyana
Passport Office usually requires a 9 month wait to reissue
lost or stolen passports. These schemes allow Guyanese to
conceal the fact they are staying and working in the US from
both DHS and consular officers.


7. Third country national applications are not frequent
except for Chinese from the Guangdong province in southern
China who immigrate to Guyana in large numbers. Some come
for businesses opportunities but others simply make Guyana a
way stop on the long journey to the United States or Canada.
Chinese applicants usually speak little English but often
have business registrations and bank statements indicating
they are successful entrepreneurs. In some cases the assets
exist but have been transferred on paper to visa applicants
to make them seem qualified.


8. Employment based applications are fairly rare although
post does receive a significant number of H1B petitions from
the NYC school system. These are generally bona fide. One
trend recently detected has been to create a shell company
in the United States and then apply for an L1 intracompany
transfer visa which would allow them to work in the United
States.

--------------
IV FRAUD
--------------


9. Almost all IV cases are family-based petitions and fraud
is rampant. Weak Guyanese civil institutions significantly
complicate fraud prevention. As noted above until recently
birth and marriage certificates have been printed on various
paper stocks with no security features other than a
signature and a dry seal. Recently there has been some
effort to improve document security but the General
Registrar reports that authentic birth certificates with
false information were issued and continue to be issued.
The General Registrar Office has been very cooperative in
investigations, usually checking suspect documents within a
few hours.


10. Poor record keeping and cultural attitudes towards names
make ordinarily relationship cases difficult. Many Guyanese
use nicknames unrelated to their legal names or informally
adopt a different surname due to a common law relationship
or birth out of wedlock. Guyanese law allows people to
change their names or re-register their births with little
more than a sworn affidavit. Consular officers are often
presented with a pile of documents that try to establish how
names and identities changed over time. A surprising number
of these cases turn out to be bona fide but many are also
fraudulent.


11. Rampant fraud and poor records have made it necessary to
use DNA tests much more frequently to establish bona fides
of claimed relationships. Post expects to perform 750 tests
this year, up from 120 two years ago.


12. Marriage and engagement fraud remains the tool of choice
for bringing extended relatives to the United States. Post
estimates that 50% to 75% of IR1, CR1, and K1 cases are
nothing more than a business or family arrangement to bring
relatives to the US. Rampant fraud requires extensive
review and investigation of nearly all marriage cases.
Interviewing officers have become skilled at detecting the
tell-tale signs of sham marriages such as love at first
sight, whirlwind courtships and scant evidence of
relationship. In recent months we have seen marriages
between siblings, aunts marrying nephews and teenage girls
marrying first cousins strictly for immigration benefits.
Post investigations have uncovered a marriage officer who
sold marriage certificates to couples he had never seen.
The General Registrar's Office has suspended him. However,
some cases involve several generations of cousins and in-
laws marrying, divorcing and remarrying to bring the entire
family to the United States. Elaborate sham weddings are
staged or applicants use pictures from another wedding or
religious ceremony as evidence of their marriage.


13. To combat fraud marriage based petitions are now pre-
screened for fraud indicators. Lexis/Nexis is a valuable
tool to determine if petitioners are still living with ex-
spouses or have family ties with the applicant (see reftel
B). Post requires applicants and petitioners to submit
their parents' birth certificates to determine if a blood
relationship exists. Post offers IR-1 and CR-1 applicants
the option of scheduling a joint interview initially to
expedite the process since documentary evidence of
relationship (EOR) is rarely conclusive.


14. When interviews, documentary evidence, research and
joint interviews are not enough Post conducts field
investigations. The number of investigations is increasing.
Generally investigations have been productive. Guyana is a
small country with a very close-knit society. Checks with
several neighbors provide good information relating to the
legitimacy of a marriage. However some applicants attempt
to confound these investigations by giving a friend or
relative's address as their own or by only providing their
name and village, confident any mail will eventually find
them. Once an applicant is located, investigators sometimes
find neighbors were coached and give prepared answers. On
more than one occasion when investigators arrived in a
neighborhood, phone calls and runners warned surrounding
houses. Although some neighbors are not willing to help
sustain a fraud, Guyana's culture of emigration encourages
some to help their friends get to America any way they can.


15. Immigration fraud in Guyana is in its second generation.
People who immigrated under false pretenses are now
sponsoring other relatives. Interviewing officers have
found petitioners who immigrated with false birth
certificates or who present false naturalization
certificates. During interviews and investigations, FPU
frequently uncovers another sibling or family member who
already entered into a business marriage to immigrate. In
one recent case the petitioner immigrated using a false
birth certificate and obtained U.S. citizenship. She then
returned to Guyana and married her biological brother. In
each case post informs the Department of Homeland Security
and Diplomatic Security for follow-up.


16. IV applicants presenting false documents are usually in
violation of Guyanese law as well as U.S. immigration law.
With cooperation from the RSO, the consular section
regularly refers cases to the Guyana Police Force for
investigation. In several cases violators have been
arrested on the steps of the Embassy with full media
coverage. The arrest case of the US citizen who fraudulently
obtained immigration status and subsequently married her
biological brother received extensive television coverage
which noted that she is likely to lose her American
citizenship in addition to being prosecuted for document
fraud in Guyana. Post believes prosecutions like this will
have a deterrent affect on future petitioners and
applicants.


17. Post sees few employment-based IVs. One emerging theme
is L1 intracompany transfers. Post is investigating several
cases in which the US company may have been created solely
for the purpose of applying for an L1 visa.

--------------
DV Fraud
--------------


18. Guyana is allocated five diversity visas per year. We
have found no significant fraud in DV applications. Outside
the Embassy Post has seen cases of companies that collect
large fees for filling in the free application form. Post
routinely warns the public against these scams.

--------------
ACS and Passport Fraud
--------------


19. The theft or misuse of U.S. passports and permanent
resident cards has grown more appealing since the
introduction of biometric visa procedures. Reports of lost
or stolen travel documents are frequent. Post believes
thieves are targeting passports and green cards. The number
of lost or stolen passports reported yearly leads post to
believe that individuals sell USC residency or citizenship
documents. In a few cases, where the individual has
reported several lost/stolen passports we have been able to
limit their replacement passport. In addition post has seen
a trend of Guyanese children who have permanent residency or
even U.S. citizenship being sent back to Guyana to live with
relatives. Their passports or permanent resident cards are
then confiscated and held by the relatives or the parents in
the U.S. In these cases post makes every effort to persuade
the relatives to return the documents. When that fails the
documents are reported stolen and new ones are issued.

--------------
Adoption Fraud
--------------


20. Guyanese have begun to see adoption as another means to
help family members immigrate (see reftel C). Post has
found that many children do not meet the INA definition of
orphan despite reports from the local adoption board to the
contrary. Under Guyanese law, parents relinquishing
children for adoption must appear before adoption officials
to do so. However, in practice, Post has seen that many
parents do not do so. Local social workers are required to
conduct home studies for the adoption board to determine the
child's home situation. These officials are vulnerable to
bribery and some will, for a price, submit reports not
consistent with a child's actually situation. In addition,
at least one adoption has been revoked by the Guyanese
Supreme Court after the children emigrated to the U.S.


21. The dramatic rise in the number of cases and percentage
of bad cases led post to review all adoption cases by FPU
before an interview. Field investigations are conducted in
most cases and often reveal the child is living with one or
both biological parents who can and do provide for the
child's needs. In one recent case, two teenagers were
adopted by an aunt after their father's death literally
weeks before his immigrant visa interview. According to the
Guyanese Adoption Board report the children were living in
extreme poverty. A field investigation showed that their
father's family is one of the richest in Guyana and they are
living in a large luxurious house with their biological
mother.


22. Post has also seen cases in which Guyanese who have
immigrated to the U.S. are interested in adopting a child.
For cultural reasons they do not choose to adopt a child
from a local orphanage, instead they locate an impoverished
child and pay the family to relinquish the child for
adoption. Twenty-six out of fifty-three adoption cases
(48%) were returned to DHS for review and possible
revocation in FY 2005.

--------------
Asylum and other DHS benefit fraud
--------------


23. Guyana has few asylum claims. Prior to FY2005, Post
processed one family as Visas 93 while in FY2006 post has
already received 7 Visas 93 cases, indicating that Guyanese
applying for asylum after entering the U.S. with an NIV or
attempting to enter with fraudulent travel documents in a
growing trend. To date, we have not see relationship fraud
in Visas 93 cases. Guyanese typically claim credible fear
based on racial persecution, crime, or poverty. Recently
three Guyanese were granted asylum based on the ridicule
they will face after being removed from the U.S.

24. Post typically processes several transportation letters
each week for LPRs reporting their green cards lost or
stolen after arrival in Guyana. I-551s are a valuable
commodity in Guyana and imposters frequently attempt to use
stolen I-551s to enter the U.S. or Canada, usually
transiting through Port of Spain first.

--------------
Cooperation with host government authorities
--------------


25. Cooperation from Guyanese authorities has been mixed.
The General Registrar's Office and the Immigration authority
regularly verify or provide information to the consular
section. The Guyana Police Force has been very cooperative
in pursuing fraud cases referred by the Embassy. Media
sources (including the government-owned media) have given
excellent coverage to fraud warnings and arrests. However
at higher levels cooperation disappears. Guyana is a small
country with a close-knit society; the identities of most
alien smugglers and narcotics traffickers are open secrets
but they are rarely arrested and almost never convicted.
Post has significant doubts about the validity and
reliability of police certificates and often relies on media
accounts to identify criminals. While Post has reliable
information that many IV and NIV visa applicants are
involved in alien or narcotics smuggling, it is difficult in
most cases to sustain 2C or 6E findings. Local authorities
do not want to provide information, even if it exists, about
these individuals as they are often prominent members of
society (including members of the police force and the
government). This is part of a much larger problem of
Guyana's weak civil society and makes it very difficult to
target the large, well established rings.

--------------
AREAS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN
--------------


26. Guyana is a transshipment point for narcotics to enter
the United States and the influence of narcotic traffickers
is growing in society. In two recent cases, the
relationship was legitimate but the applicants were
suspected narcotics traffickers who have never been
arrested. There was not enough evidence to sustain a 2C
refusal on them. In one case the suspected trafficker was
arrested in Barbados on drug trafficking charges prior to
issuance. In the other case the Guyana Police Force has
offered to investigate and inform us if they find any hard
evidence. In another case post learned that a suspected
narcotics trafficker and death squad member is a permanent
resident of the United States. Post has been unable to find
sufficient evidence of his complicity in drug trafficking or
murders to permit DHS to revoke his status. These examples
clearly show how Guyana's combination of a high emigration
and weak law enforcement pose a threat to national security.


27. Due to a deeply held belief that all government
officials are corrupt and that anything can be bought,
Guyanese are frequently victims of various visa scams. This
belief is reinforced by the Thomas Carroll visa-selling
scandal and a recent case of Canadian passports being sold
by a corrupt local employee at the Canadian high commission.
Embassy officers from the Ambassador on down are routinely
told by Guyanese that someone in the Embassy is selling
visas though no one is ever able to provide specific
examples. Consular officers have reported no significant
attempts to bribe or coerce them.


28. Clever con men have used the names of legitimate Embassy
personnel to convince others they can provide visas.
Recently a Guyanese con man was arrested for impersonating a
U.S. Embassy official and persuading people to pay thousands
of dollars in `security deposits' for immigrant visas. He
used photocopies of Embassy letter head and on at least one
occasion told his victims to wait on the Embassy steps for
him to come with their visas. In December he was convicted
of 20 counts of fraud. Despite this success just a week
after his arrest the Embassy learned of another group asking
applicants to pay hundreds of dollars for medical tests.
The Guyana Police Force was notified and is investigating.
Soon afterwards a woman contacted a consular section FSN
fraud investigator about selling visas. The woman was
identified and her visa was revoked. Meanwhile the sister-
in-law of an FSN from the budget section claimed she could
provide visas with his assistance. The FSN was unaware of
his name was being used in this the scam. When the victims
received nothing disgruntled customers threatened the
oblivious staff member, who reported the case to the RSO and
local police. An investigation led to the arrest of his
sister-in-law.


29. Post regularly advises the public of scams and reminds
them that legitimate visas can only be obtained at the U.S.
Embassy. In order to better educate the public about policy
and legitimate fees post is launching a weekly question and
answer column in a local paper.

--------------
STAFFING AND TRAINING
--------------


30. With the addition of a new consular officer position
under the Consular Associate Replacement Program (CARP) a
Fraud Prevention/American Citizen Services rotation was
created. This officer has responsibility for two FSNs in
the Fraud Prevention Unit and fraud investigations. This
October the Consul completed the Fraud Prevention Manager
course at FSI and most consular officers have taken the
advanced name-checking course. Post is requesting the
addition of an FS-03 full-time fraud prevention manager and
an additional FSN fraud investigator.


31. The FPU Manager is the Consular Section Chief but the
FPU Staff consists of a rotational ACS/FPU officer:

Alexander McLaren (July 2005 to December 2005)
FSO - Vice Consul
Training: DHS - Detection of Fraudulent Documents and
Imposters (at post),Canadian Immigration - Detection of
Fraudulent Documents (at post)

Christine Meyer (January 2006 to June 2006)
FSO - Vice Consul
Training: Advanced Name Checking (FSI)

Rhonda Wells (July 2005 to December 2006)
FSO - Vice Consul
Training: Antifraud orientation (at post),Advanced Name
Checking (FSI, April 2006)

There are also two full-time local staff:

Marcia Dehnert
FSN - Senior Fraud Investigator
Training: FPU Workshop (Ft. Lauderdale)

Adepemo Peters
FSN - Fraud Investigator


32. In May of 2005 two DHS officers visited post and
conducted fraudulent document and imposter training for
immigration and airline officials. For many of them this
was the first and only training they had received on this
subject. Post requests another visit by DHS or CA/FPP and
PowerPoint presentations and exemplars that can be used to
train local officials.

--------------
CONCLUSIONS
--------------


33. High levels of legal and illegal migration and weak
civil society make Guyana a very challenging consular
environment. However cooperation from certain aspects of
the GoG and new consular tools have allowed for considerable
progress in combating fraud. The addition of a full-time FS-
03 fraud officer, expanded access to Lexis/Nexis to more
than one officer will better prepare Post to combat fraud.
BULLEN