UPDATE ON SECURITY FEATURES OF LESOTHO PASSPORT- CORRECTED

UNCLAS MASERU 000324 DEPARTMENT FOR CA/FPP, JOHANNESBURG FOR RCO MICHAEL VEASY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KFRD CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC LT SUBJECT: UPDATE ON SECURITY FEATURES OF LESOTHO PASSPORT- CORRECTED COPY REF: a) Maseru 000293 b) Maseru 323 This cable provides complete details of security features which were made available to conoff after reftel (b),Maseru 000323, was prepared. ¶1. Summary: On October 21, 2008, Consular Officer Lillie J. Kamanu visited the Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Immigration and Passport Services to obtain information about security features of Lesotho's passport. The passport is required identification for primary school leavers and for all basic financial transactions. Mrs. Kamanu was accompanied by Consular Assistant Ms. Mabereng Taole and Regional Security Officer Kimberly K. Jones. MOHA Officers described security features incorporated into the front and back covers, first page, and center pages cover. Fraud concerns expressed by the Acting Director Passport Services echoed those referred to in the Maseru Fraud Summary submitted by reftel. ¶2. Differences in old and new passports: Changes in new passports have been useful in spotting counterfeit passports especially when pages from different types of passports have been combined to create a counterfeit travel document. Third Country nationals, particularly Nigerians, have attempted to utilize this method to deceive immigration officials. a) Texture of paper in new passports is different from that in old passports. b) New passport has barcode on bottom right of page 1. c) The signature's approval box is separated in two parts in the old passports, but in the new 2008 version there is only one box. d) Old passports had a thicker laminate which was easily compromised. e) Old laser printed passports were easily counterfeited. f) New system uses an inkjet printer. g) The security adhesive laminate combines a number of features to prevent forgery. Because of its thinness, it is very unlikely that it may be removed. On this foil the emblem of the KINGDOM of LESOTHO appears four times and is printed in invisible fluorescent ink. The crest also appears as a visible fixed element which overlaps the photograph. ¶3. ID number a) No definitive details on the ID number. b) The only consistent portion of the ID number is the code for date of birth, place of birth, and gender. c) Numerals are arranged ddmmyy, followed by the District Code. 
d) District Codes: A: Maseru; B: Butha Buthe; C: Leribe, D: Berea, E: Mafeteng; F: Mohale's Hoek; G- Quthing; J: Mokhotlong; K Thaba Tseka Q: Qacha's Nek. a. Example: 120360D030830F represents a Female born 12 March 1960 in Berea District (D) e) The digits in between the district code and the gender code vary depending on the printer used to produce the document. ¶4. Inside front cover: a) Portrait of King Moshoeshoe I seated on a rock is prominent. b) The optically variable inks (OVI .) are characterized by a unique and sharp change of color according to the viewing angle causing the word Lesotho across the top to glow transitionally from shades of Green to Dark Blue. c) When viewed through a special red FCO decoder/filter, the letters L, S, O appear on the three red flowers layered in graduated sizes on the upper left corner. d) A latent image of `Kingdom of' appears vertically in intaglio in row of maroon and navy blue designs on right margin. e) A latent image of `Lesotho' shows horizontally in intaglio in designs of the same colors along lower margin. f) The micro printing on the rock on which King Moshoeshoe I is seated reads `Kingdom of Lesotho' printed in characters that can read only under strong magnification. ¶5. Middle pages - pp 16 and 17 - a) Three (3)double stitches at the top and at the bottom. All others are single. Counterfeiters miss this feature. On page 17 ONLY the `s' in the Coat of Arms is backwards. ¶6. Each page a) The watermark ,which varies with the thickness of the paper, reveals King Moshoeshoe I and the translation of Passport in Sesotho: `PHASEPOTO'. b) UV reveals the page number, a man on horseback and a map of Lesotho throughout the passport. c) A conic hole produced by Laser perforation throughout the thickness of the passport is unworkable by a traditional needle punching machine. d) The FCO . labyrinth consists of geometric shapes composed of lineal rasters. The variation of the different angles of the raster interferes with the scanner beam or a color printer. These security documents are printed in colors, which do not belong to the usual range (magenta, yellow, and cyan, black). e) Each page contains fluorescent inks which react under ultraviolet light to reveal specific designs in green, blue and red. f) The vertical rainbow printing allows a precise mix of inks of several colors producing a narrow juxtaposition of shades which are extremely difficult to reproduce by scanner, or color photocopy. The design appears reversed on adjacent pages. g) The numismatic background global design is perfectly regular and difficult to counterfeit. ¶7. Page 32 a) A scrambled image of the text `KINGDOM of LESOTHO' will appear when a FCO decoder is placed over the blue rectangle. ¶8. Bio page a) UV Light reveals the Coat of Arms 4 times across the lower portion just above the Machine Readable area. A large spiral aloe, the national plant of Lesotho, is prominent on the right. One crest is near upper right corner of photo and above that four wavy lines are visible. b) Arrow on right side is destroyed if laminate is tampered with. c) The laminate is less thick on new passports and does not cover the entire page. Earlier passports contained a laminate which extended onto the front inside cover. ¶9. Fraud concerns expressed by Acting Director Passport Services, Ntate Sello, echoed those referred to in the Maseru Fraud Summary submitted in reftel (a). a) In the absence of a reliable computerized data base and biometrics, applicants and duplicate passport holders are difficult to track. b) Data related to old passports have not been merged /migrated into new system, further complicating tracking. c) It is not unusual for people to apply for passports in different names, not necessarily to commit visa fraud, but to commit fraud in obtaining loans, bank transactions. d) Applications, some legitimate are based on unreliable, questionable documents a/o information. e) Poor data management at registrar of births, deaths make it easy to obtain (new) passport in different identity or for unscrupulous purposes. f) Village chiefs sign affidavits easily for a "son of the soil", one of their "people" NOLAN