RELIGIOUS WORKER VISA FRAUD: MONKS, PRIESTS, NUNS AND THE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KOLKATA 000073

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/FPP AND CA/VO/F/P
POSTS FOR FRAUD PREVENTION MANAGERS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS SOCI KCRM KFRD IN
SUBJECT: RELIGIOUS WORKER VISA FRAUD: MONKS, PRIESTS, NUNS AND THE
PEOPLE WHO IMPERSONATE THEM

REF: A. 04 CALCUTTA 000451

B. 06 CALCUTTA 000237


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Post refused nearly 60% of all applicants
seeking to obtain R-1 religious worker visas in CY 2007. To
validate those adjudications and verify the bona fides of
religious institutions in Post's consular district, the Fraud
Prevention Unit (FPU) visited or attempted to visit over a dozen
purported Buddhist monasteries and Hindu temples in the Indian
States of Sikkim and West Bengal. Using the fraud visit
information, LexisNexis searches, the internet at large, and
other tools, Post was able to confirm mala fide intent and
verify bona fide institutions. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) In CY 2007, Post adjudicated 240 R-1 visas and refused
over 65%. In addition, Post refused 50% of the 24 R-2 visa
applications. These numbers reflect a consistent trend in
refusal percentages for the last five years.


3. (U) Post has a unique blend of religious applicant sources
in its district: the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON) has its world headquarters in the West
Bengal city of Mayapur; Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity
are headquartered in central Kolkata, and Buddhist monasteries
dot the hills of the Indian states of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh,
and northern West Bengal, while the city of Bodhgaya in Bihar
represents the physical location where Buddha attained
enlightenment. Post's R-1/R-2 applicant pool is roughly one
quarter Hindu, one quarter Buddhist, one quarter Catholic, and a
quarter split between Sikhs, Protestants, and Muslims. The
Hindu sects are also well defined and include, among others,
Ananda Marga and ISKCON.

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GOOD MONK, BAD MONK: BUDDHIST FRAUD
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4. (SBU) Post issued visas to less than 20% of the "Tibetan
monks" that presented themselves for R-1 visas in CY 2007. Most
of the refusals were to individuals in their 20s applying in
groups, while issuances tended towards those 50 years and older
applying either individually or with a single younger assistant.
Fraud involving applicants masquerading as legitimate Buddhist
monks originates from many places, including both the U.S. and
India.


5. (SBU) In some cases, the fraud originated solely from the
applicants themselves, without any further collusion from anyone
outside of India. For example, three applying "monks" (CLC
2007135 758 1 / 757 1 / 756 1) all had prior Cat 1 and Cat 2
CLASS records related to fraudulent passports. One applied on a
passport stolen from the Government of Nepal before issuance and
subsequently declared null and void. The second had a hit for
traveling on an altered passport, which was reported at a
regional fraud conference in Singapore. The third had
previously tried to travel on a forged Nepali passport and New
Delhi had entered a Cat 1 hit.


6. (SBU) In other cases, the applicants were complicit with
sources outside of India. In case CLC 2007 135 758 1, four
"monks" applied to attend a program in San Jose, CA. They had
elaborate documents that had been patterned on legitimate
documents previously sent from the U.S. A website provided on
the invitation letter (www.sjbcb.com) had detailed information
on the program being proposed. However, the website appears
solely and explicitly created for the visa application. A
search for WHOIS information on
http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/index.j sp showed that the
fraudulent website had been registered from Singapore just days
before the visa interview. A Google search for the U.S.
organization revealed the true, more detailed homepage for the
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin (www.sjbetsuin.com.)


7. (SBU) The most complex and difficult to untangle cases
involved fraud originating in the U.S. One such example
included the cases involving the Land of Compassion Buddha. Two
groups of several monks applied for a sponsored tour of the U.S,
CLC 2007337 228 1-4 and CLC 2007 331 863 1-2. The supporting

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packets were identical except for minor changes to the names of
the Indian organizations and the dates of the tour in the U.S.
The signature of L. Chen on the U.S. invites appeared forged.
The documents, however, were in good American English and
otherwise appeared to be flawless.


8. (SBU) Post conducted a field fraud investigation in the
Indian state of Sikkim from October 12-17, 2007. The FPU spoke
with representatives of monasteries from which applicants
claimed to have come. Almost universally, monastery officials
were shocked that someone had appropriated or forged their
letterhead for mala fide purposes. In all cases, Post collected
letterhead and signature exemplars for later use and encouraged
organizations to call ahead when sending bona fide applicants.
Post visited five monasteries and verified that two monasteries
did not exist at all. Post maintains and can share several
extensive lists of monasteries and the names and appointment
dates for their respective abbots.

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HINDU SECTS AND FAKE PRIESTS
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9. (U) Hindu priests come in many varieties. The primary
problem for Post is that basic cooks and maintenance men who
hold no real authority in their respective sects apply for
religious worker visas. Post does not feel that these
applicants meet the FAM requirements for R-1 visas, even if they
intended to honestly execute the described duties. Usually
applicants had no more than a passing understanding of the rites
of Hinduism and, in many cases, were part of an organized and
U.S.-centric smuggling operation.


10. (SBU) Post maintains one nominally Hindu organization in
CCD's watchphrase tool: the cunning and adaptive Gaudiya
Vaisnava Society (GVS),also known as the Sri Ram Temple, in
Milwaukee, WI. The organization was founded by former R-1 visa
holder and current Lexus driving legal permanent resident (LPR)
Hari Gopal Das a.k.a Sudarshan Halder. DHS/ICE conducted a
compliance check of the organization in June 2007 and reported
that the "temple" looked like a boarding house. Post previously
conducted an investigation of the organization in West Bengal
and found that the temple was a simple residential house with no
religious connection or adornment. GVS has several authentic
American documents obtained under false pretenses, including
proclamations from city, state, and federal office holders and
government organizations. It has successfully used the ruse of
an R-1 visa holding injured priest to justify additional visa
issuances. That priest supposedly has tuberculosis in his knee
and is unable to continue his duties during treatment.
Throughout 2007 all Posts in India received applications for R-1
and R-2 visas from this organization, many of them were issued.


11. (U) In April 2007, Post conducted a fraud investigation in
Mayapur, West Bengal to catalogue and verify the existence
various temples of the Vaisnava sect of Hinduism. Post linked
the sixteen applicants purportedly from Krishna Balaram Mandir
(which turned out to be a house in a village with nothing
religious about it but a sign out front) to the Sri Ram Society
using information from the local post office. Post also
contacted the CEO of the ISKCON temple in Mayapur and confirmed
previously established procedures for verifying bona fide ISKCON
applicants. A large and legitimate branch of ISKCON also
operates out of Kolkata.

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SIKH PRIESTS OR INTENDING IMMIGRANTS
--------------


12. (SBU) Among Sikh "priests" seeking R-1 visas, Post refused
over 90% of the applicants. In almost every case, applicants
had no claim to residency within Post's consular district.
These applicants usually came in pairs of three and had no
connections or assistance from the U.S. In one case, CLC 2007
323 392 1, the applicants submitted supporting documents on A4
size paper - alleged from the U.S. - with ink imprint stamps
that spelled the destination city of Upper Darby as "Upper

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Qarby" and the local Citizen's Bank as "Cnizen's Bank." Equally
far-fetched submissions marked this type of application,
including unfolded A4 invite letters that were alleged by the
applicants to have fit into a business sized envelope (CLC 2007
082 521 1). Careful review of invitation letters and supporting
financial documents was usually sufficient to mark these
invariably out-of-district cases as fraudulent.

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CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANTS
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13. (U) Post's Catholic applicants came in one of two
varieties: nuns from Mother Theresa's Missionaries of Charity
and priests from Catholic parishes across the district. Their
supporting documents were always inclusive and the strict
hierarchy of the church made impersonation difficult and
imposters rare. Well established procedures and paperwork
accompany applicants from the Missionaries of Charity; and
applicants are accompanied to their interview by a senior
administrator at the organization. Post encountered no
Catholic-centric fraud in CY 2007.


14. (U) Protestant applicants applied for a variety of
programs. Some programs and "priests" were not bona fide.
Protestant applicants came predominately from the northeastern
states where poverty is exceptionally widespread. It was not
unusual for applicants to present a story of a traveling
missionary they met many years ago who has invited them to
preach at a local American church. Return checks bear out the
truthfulness of many of these stories; most of which would be
quickly refused 214(b) if there were no religious aspect to them.

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TACTICS, TECHNIQUES AND PROCEDURES
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15. (SBU) Post uses comprehensive methods to verify the bona
fides of U.S. religious organizations and the signatures on
invitation letters. These include using PIERS records to
compare American passport application signatures with invitation
letter signatures, and using LexisNexis to verify the existence
and whereabouts of American-based sponsors. The verification of
India-based organizations, supporting websites, and all
documents purporting to support a religious application are a
critical part of all R-1 and R-2 adjudications.
JARDINE