PA POLICE RAID COUNTERFEIT DOCUMENT LABS IN HEBRON

C O N F I D E N T I A L JERUSALEM 000175 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR CA/FPP, NEA/IPA, DS/IP/NEA, AND DS/ICI/CR E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/01/2018 TAGS: CVIS KFRD PREL ASEC KWBG SUBJECT: PA POLICE RAID COUNTERFEIT DOCUMENT LABS IN HEBRON Classified By: Classified by Acting Principal Officer Thomas M. Duffy f or reasons 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. In recent months, PA Police have disrupted several visa fraud rings in the West Bank. They briefly detained and released two individuals suspected of creating and selling counterfeit documents for U.S. visa interviews. The two were among five questioned after ConGenOffs provided PA Police in Hebron information and exemplars of fraudulent documents, including birth certificates, ID cards, bank statements, high school exam transcripts and chamber of commerce registrations received at the visa window. PA police were responsive to Post's concerns in effecting arrests, but obtaining convictions may be complicated by tensions between police and prosecutors. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) ConOff, RSO and Tel Aviv ARSO/I met in late October with Hebron police chief BG Majid Hawari to discuss a fraudulent document ring operating in the Hebron area. ConGenOffs briefed Hawari on several individuals believed to be responsible for over 100 linked cases involving fraudulent documents used for non-immigrant visa (NIV) applications. Shortly before a November 14 follow-up meeting with Colonel Ibrahim Abu Ein, the Deputy Director General of Criminal Investigations, police contacts informed Post that they had raided two houses and detained five individuals for questioning. ¶3. (C) Abu Ein provided additional details about the raids and confirmed the arrests and subsequent referral to judicial authorities for prosecution. Among those arrested were Maher Mohammad Hassan Nasar al-Atawneh and Haitham Abdel Muhasen Ahmad al-Sharif. The case against Al-Atawneh was developed as part of a lead package created by the Consulate's Fraud Prevention Unit and RSO as well as information from the manager of Post's courier passback service. Al-Sharif was arrested based on information developed during the PA police's interviews with other subjects in the lead package. A CCD search reveals that he was refused non-immigrant visas at least seven times and most recently listed his occupation as working for a professional printing business. CCD text search revealed multiple links between al-Atawneh and al-Sharif as well as a U.S. point of contact common to other fraud ring clients. ¶4. (C) The two individuals were released shortly after the case was turned over to a working-level prosecutor in the Hebron district. The prosecutor cited a lack of evidence sufficient for prosecution and accused BG Hawari of resting on his laurels, comfortable with his level of access to ConGen officers and disinterested in achieving real results. At a January 2 Consular/Law Enforcement liaison meeting, Abu Ein denied that insufficient evidence was passed to the prosecutors and claimed that in cases like these, the "atmosphere is not right" for prosecution. He deflected blame for the releases from the quality of police investigation and asserted that the current political situation leaves judges fearful of imposing stiff sentences. He noted that cases could be held open indefinitely and charges brought once conditions allowed, but did not elaborate or provide a time frame for concluding the cases. ¶5. (C) In general, Abu Ein characterized the production of fraudulent documents as a serious concern but minimized the culpability of end-users of the documents portraying them as bona fide travelers seeking a respite from life in the West Bank. He noted that the lack of full PA control over B/C zones hampers his ability to investigate vendors operating in those areas due to difficulties coordinating with Israeli authorities. (Comment: The use of fraudulent documents by otherwise qualified applicants is in fact very rare. The vast majority of NIV applicants presenting fraudulent documents would have been refused 214(b) regardless of the paperwork they produced. Including our January 2 meeting, in recent months Post has referred three separate leads into fraudulent document vendors operating in the West Bank, all of which were located in A zones under full PA security control. End Comment.) DUFFY