FRAUD SUMMARY - ARGENTINA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BUENOS AIRES 001113 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR CA/FPP AND DS/CR/OCI DHS FOR CIS/FDNS POSTS FOR CONS/FPU AND DHS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KFRD CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC AR SUBJECT: FRAUD SUMMARY - ARGENTINA REFS: A) STATE 057623 B) Khilji-Lane email 8/31/09 SUMMARY: Per ref A, Buenos Aires submits its semi-annual fraud summary for period March 1, 2009, to August 31, 2009. During this time, FPU achieved full-staffing and addressed a broad range of issues, from cooperation with local and interagency partners to investigating NIV referrals. END SUMMARY. a. COUNTRY CONDITIONS - Argentina has not been insulated from the global financial crisis. Key economic indicators indicate that the country is experiencing a slowdown. The Argentine peso lost approximately 7% of its nominal value against the U.S. dollar during this reporting period (from March 1, 2009 to August 31, 2009 the peso went from 3.59 ARP/USD to 3.85 ARP/USD). High inflation has particularly stressed middle- and low-income households, which are spending and borrowing less, according to a Central Bank report, which noted a 23% decline in the number of consumer loans approved by banks from May to June 2009. Rising prices are taking their toll on consumer confidence and public perception of economic opportunities. According to an August 2008 TNS Gallup survey conducted with the Universidad Catolica de Argentina, 52% of Argentines characterized the economy as "bad," while 34% judged it as uncertain. Despite rising inflation and economic uncertainty, 13% still consider the economy to be good. Paradoxically, and countering the regional trend, NIV demand in Argentina rose thirteen percent so far (as of September) this calendar year over CY 2007. Argentina's periodic experience with economic crises could explain the population's undiminished desire to travel despite the adverse economy. In addition, substantial discounts in airfare and attractive Disney packages continue to draw applicants to the United States. Travel to the United States is a mark of prestige in Argentine society, and it remains a popular and affordable destination when compared to the expense of travelling within Argentina. As these attractive deals encourage more first-time travelers to the U.S., FPU is attentive to changes in the applicant pool. b. NIV FRAUD: During this reporting period, the NIV Unit adjudicated some 68,000 applications - 13 percent more than the same period last fiscal year - with FPU completing 33 percent more investigations than during the same period in FY 2008. VALIDATION STUDIES: Post conducted a validation study on B referrals. The initial analysis of some 1,000 cases shows that less than one percent of the applicants overstayed. Post will report its complete findings via septel. FPU also tracks and analyzes DHS deportations and port-of-entry turnarounds, and regularly shares this info with officers. -------------- Argentine Court Prosecuting Visa Fixer -------------- Argentine courts are prosecuting a visa forger for the first time in recent history. In June, FPU responded to a GOA request for information regarding an FPU investigation of a visa fixer, the daughter of a famous biographer. Argentine authorities took action after a refused applicant sued the document fixer for charging exorbitant fees. Argentine Federal Court Number 39 requested information from the Embassy by Diplomatic Note, stating that the visa fixer charged 3,200 Argentine pesos (approximately US$1,000) to manipulate U.S. visa and Italian and Spanish citizenship applications, presenting herself as an attorney who could deliver visas and Argentine citizenship in short order. FPU submitted the results of its investigation along with a 2003 report previously submitted to the Senate, containing information relevant to the case. The court confirmed three pending charges of fraud, one of which is the result of FPU's investigation. The prosecutor may request up to 18 years imprisonment. -------------- Investigating a Dirty War Criminal -------------- FPU concluded the investigation of a long-pending visa application from a Dirty War participant, the current Environmental Secretary for the city of La Matanza, Buenos Aires Province. The Secretary and his family applied for B1/B2 visas in February 2008. He disclosed in his interview that he was a member of the Montonero insurgent group that fought against Argentina's military dictatorship in the 1970s. He received an Argentine Presidential Pardon in 1989, though a CLASS hit remained active. The SAO response in July 2009 identified the applicant as wanted by Interpol for kidnapping and extortion. Interpol advised that while the case remained active and unenforced, no law enforcement entity currently BUENOS AIR 00001113 002 OF 004 seeks his arrest on the international level. As a foreign pardon does not exempt an applicant from ineligibilities based on security-related grounds, Post found him permanently ineligible for his prior activities. -------------- - Interagency Cooperation Thwarts Visa Applicant -------------- - With the assistance of RSO and ICE, FPU thwarted an applicant's attempts to fraudulently obtain visas based on a bogus humanitarian claim. In March, an applicant requested an expedited visa appointment for her nine-month old child based on a medical emergency. Before the visa interview, DS alerted FPU that the applicant had ties to the Russian mafia. During the visa interview, the applicant presented appointment letters from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, a Polish birth certificate for her daughter, the father's permission to leave Argentina, and a police report stating that she had lost her previous passport. An entry/exit check indicated that she had left the United States in 2007, but not when she entered. The NIV Chief and FSN Investigator confronted the applicant, who admitted to having been unlawfully present in the United States from April 2000 until September 2007. She also admitted that the nurse at the Hospital for Special Surgeries who signed the appointment letters was a friend of her child's father. A CCD text search revealed more than 50 similar visa applications for medical treatment, most of them from Pakistan and Turkey. FPU referred the case to DS for further investigation. -------------- Other Fraud Investigations -------------- In August, FPU investigated questionable vacation prizes after several applicants presented letters allegedly from Vacations724.com awarding them hotel getaways in Orlando and Miami (ref B). FPU believes that these prizes were a scam. While Vacations724.com appears to be a legitimate wholesale travel provider like Expedia and Travelocity, the entity using their name on popular radio shows has taken advantage of many lower-income applicants who do not qualify for visas, charging them additional exorbitant fees after they "win" the prize, in some cases even charging their credit cards without their knowledge. After contacting WHA/FPP, FPU found that other WHA posts had also seen this scam. We note that applicants who use the Vacations724.com website do not have these problems, suggesting that the organization using the radio advertisement is fraudulently using the website's logo to borrow credibility. Applicants responding to the radio advertisements also told FPU that Vacations724.com required them to pay $29 USD for the "visa letter" and $200 USD for "administrative fees" for the prize. Despite several calls, FPU was unable to contact the offices listed on the letter, and a Google Map shows the address as an empty lot in Miami. FPU plans to follow up with the radio stations and FPMs in the region. Finally, a 19 year-old Peruvian landscaper renewing an H2A temporary work visa admitted to petition fraud in order to illegally work in construction in Salt Lake City, Utah. While the applicant presented well, an error in PIMS led FPU to call his "alleged" employer, who denied petitioning for him. From there, FPU obtained a confession from the applicant that he had previously worked illegally in construction, instead of -as his first visa permitted - in landscaping. The recent indictment of a Salt Lake City law firm for falsifying information on work visa applications, and the high incidence of fraud amongst Peruvian applicants here, highlights landscaping jobs in Utah as an area for continued vigilance. c. IV FRAUD - Immigrant visa fraud is relatively rare in Buenos Aires. IV referred six cases to FPU this period that involved checks on birth and marriage certificates and visa fraud interviews. No fraud was found. d. DV FRAUD - No DV cases were referred to FPU for investigation during this time period. e. ACS AND PASSPORT FRAUD- ACS Fraud in Buenos Aires has historically been low. FPU is developing a new training program for ACS staff to ensure that they are aware of, and alert to, current trends in ACS fraud. f. ADOPTION FRAUD - There were no adoption fraud investigations this period. g. USE OF DNA TESTING - No cases were recommended for DNA testing BUENOS AIR 00001113 003 OF 004 this period. h. ASYLUM AND OTHER DHS BENEFIT FRAUD - The Embassy has not processed any asylum or refugee cases since 2001. i. ALIEN SMUGGLING, TRAFFICKING, ORGANIZED CRIME, TERRORIST TRAVEL - In March, Argentine Immigration noticed an increase in flights from the Dominican Republic carrying groups of 25-50 women supposedly coming for tourism, all of them stating the same address, carrying little money and claiming no knowledge of the other women. Given the long history of trafficking of Dominican women to Argentina, this sudden increase raised suspicions amongst GOA immigration officers, who subsequently refused their entry and immediately returned them to Santo Domingo. After Argentine Immigration denied entry to these initial larger groups, the travelers changed their stories and started arriving in smaller groups. According to Argentine Immigration, while many women know their motive of travel, others are forced into prostitution upon arrival. They are taken mostly to the south of Argentina, where petroleum companies operate. There are also a significant numbers of Bolivians, Paraguayans and Peruvians who are trafficked into the country for forced labor in sweatshops and agriculture. Argentina passed an anti-trafficking law in 2008 and has made other important strides toward addressing the problem. It remains on the Department's Tier II Watch List, with identified shortcomings in the prosecution of traffickers and in victims' services. GOA Immigration officials say they will continue to watch the trends and keep FPU informed. Los delitos considerados en la reciente normativa no sslo contemplan la explotacisn sexual; tambin estn aludidas las prcticas esclavistas, como los trabajos forzados y la reduccisn a la servidumbre; las privaciones de la libertad y la extraccisn ilegal de srganos. j. DS CRIMINAL FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS - FPU referred a case to RSO last year involving the victim of a visa fixer who was intercepted in Ezeiza airport. In May, FPU and RSO met with federal police investigators, who reported that they were working with five victims who had answered a newspaper ad for U.S. work visas. The Investigators requested that Post contact them if another victim came forward and suggested extra vigilance around the Embassy, particularly with possible facilitators in the visa line. The judge in charge of the case will consider charges of falsification of a public document once the defendant is properly identified. This carries a penalty of up to six years. FPU worked closely with RSO in a case in which an IV applicant claimed she had been visited at home by two alleged Embassy employees, who provided her with an appointment date. The letter shows applicant's personal information and contains a Department of State seal that appears to have been pulled from the internet. She also stated that when she appeared for her "appointment," she was charged 160 Argentine pesos for the application by someone at outside visa intake window who then requested she come at a later time for her final interview. The applicant's lawyer contacted the Embassy to report the incident. The case is still under investigation with the RSO. k. HOST COUNTRY PASSPORT, IDENTITY DOCUMENTS, AND CIVIL REGISTRY - Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) officials recently informed FPU that the GOA has opened the bid for the new Argentine e-passport, to be issued sometime in 2010. They stated that the increased security procedures and features of the new passport should make it more difficult for mala fide persons to obtain genuine Argentine passports. In Argentina, Argentine Immigration processes residency applications. After temporary residency is approved, the applicant is referred to the Argentine Civil registry for a DNI application. As the wait time for a DNI appointment is six months to one year, Argentine Immigration is working with the Civil Registry to streamline the process for temporary residents, which should allow an applicant to complete the whole process, including the DNI, through Immigration, avoiding a separate application to the Civil Registry. l. COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES - FPU maintains excellent working-level relationships with Argentine Immigration, airport security, Civil Registry and Federal Police. FPU can unofficially request entry and exit checks from contacts to aid in fraud investigations. In return, we assist airport officials with prompt visa or passport verification when they identify suspect U.S. travel documents. In April, FPU staff conducted the first-ever training for Argentine immigration enforcement officials in Posadas, Misiones, the second-highest volume entry point into Argentina after the international airport in Buenos Aires. More than 100 employees from BUENOS AIR 00001113 004 OF 004 Immigration, Coast Guard, Gendarmerie and the provincial police participated in imposter detection and document examination training. FPU also observed operations at both the bridge and port immigration check points. On July 29, FPU hosted the quarterly anti-fraud round table of English-speaking Embassies. Representatives from New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and South Africa attended the meeting, with Argentine Diplomats from Consular Affairs as special guests. The MFA representatives shared fraud trends with the Embassies, explained the Argentine visa and passport issuance policy, and details on the development of a new Argentine Mercosur passport. m. AREAS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN - FPU continues to work closely with airlines to detect trends in fraudulent document use here. Mala fide third country nationals often use Buenos Aires as a departure point for flights to the U.S. because they know that airport officials do not arrest, detain, or prosecute travelers with false documents, nor do they confiscate the fraudulent documents. This enables travelers to re-use the same false documents with different airlines, or in neighboring countries. FPU has raised this concern with Argentine immigration and airport officials on several occasions, but they cite Argentine laws as constraining their ability to retain documents. To compensate, FPU routinely notifies all U.S.-bound airlines and Fraud Prevention Managers in neighboring countries whenever it becomes aware of apparent mala fide attempts to board U.S.-bound flights in Buenos Aires. n. STAFFING AND TRAINING: Post's FPU is fully-staffed for the first time in two years, with the Visa Chief serving as Fraud Prevention Manager, one full-time Senior Investigator, a part-time rotating FPU /NIV Officer; an H&L funded FSN investigator and an EFM assistant. Regaining full staffing has helped the unit better address the full gamut of projects such as outreach and training, fully investigating H&L visas, and maintaining a strong network of local contacts. During the reporting period, FPU conducted several fraud briefings for the new consular officers, focusing on Argentine documents and the more common fraud trends in Argentina. FPU also led training session for Conoffs on Argentine tax documents and detection of falsified tax forms. MARTINEZ