PERUVIAN H2B FRAUD IN BUENOS AIRES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BUENOS AIRES 001234 SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR CA/FPP WHA/AND DS/ICI/CR DEPT ALSO PASS TO KCC POSTS FOR FPMS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KFRD CVIS PE AR SUBJECT: PERUVIAN H2B FRAUD IN BUENOS AIRES REF: 08 BUENOS AIRES 1631 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Post identified a fraudulent H2B petition used by Peruvians claiming to be horse groomers seeking to work at well-known race tracks in New York for prominent horse trainers. Five separate cases dating back to May 2008 bear the same fraud indicators - fake justification letters addressed to USCIS, fake I-797 DHS Notice of Actions, and fake Argentine national identification documents. FPU has linked at least thirteen additional applications to these falsified petitions worldwide, but the actual number could be more, given the forgery techniques employed. The Petition Information Management System (PIMS) is consistently the first indicator of fraud in these cases. END SUMMARY. -------------- First Hint of Fraud -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In April 2009, when a 32-year old Peruvian woman, who claimed she had worked in Buenos Aires for the past three years as a horse groom, presented a clearly fabricated Argentine identity document, the adjudicating officer referred the case to FPU. Not only was the Argentine document manufactured with a fake identity number, but the accompanying H2B petition was not in PIMS and bore signs of manipulation by a laser printer. A check with Argentine Immigration officials indicated that the applicant had only recently entered the country. -------------- Same Employers, Same Lawyer, Same Forgery -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Two prior Peruvian H2B applicants from November 2008 bore the same forged presentation letters addressed to USCIS on behalf of horse trainer Victor Cuadra. The copy of the I-797 DHS Notice of Action and all supporting documents, including letters of recommendation and salary receipts, were fraudulent. While the original I-797 included bona fide beneficiaries, the doctored I-797 presented to post, included the new "beneficiaries" and some of the original beneficiaries, but with altered dates of birth. The CCD showed some previously adjudicated cases for this petition with scanned documents containing identical signatures and handwriting to this fraudulent case. Text searches for the petitioner, R. Violette Junior Stable Incorporated, showed at least thirteen H2b applications dating back to 2005 in Peru, Paraguay, Mexico and Chile. ¶4. (U) The fraudulent beneficiaries presented similar stories during their interviews. Each applicant alleged that s/he paid nothing for the fraudulent documents and was offered the jobs, including room and board, in the U.S., for a very low weekly salary (no more than 350 USD). ¶5. (SBU) FPU contacted the lawyer listed on the petitions, who stated that while he represented Richard Violette and Victor Cuadra, he had not filed a petition on their behalf in several years, and was appalled to find that someone was using his name and the name of his clients in this manner. Since his law office represents the majority of horse trainers in New York and routinely files petitions for members of the New York Thoroughbred Horse Association, he was eager to cooperate with FPU to preserve the integrity of his practice. He noted that most of his clients' seasonal workers came from Mexico and Chile and recalled that the FPM in Peru had contacted him in 2008 to verify a similar petition forgery. -------------- PIMS Makes Fraud Detection Easy -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Post forwarded the fraudulent petitions to KCC, alerted other posts who had named beneficiaries on the forged document, and entered lookouts and hits for the listed beneficiaries, including a few who were erroneously issued without checking PIMS. Post believes that the forger is actively trying to evade detection by altering the petition number, petitioner name and beneficiaries biographic data on a once-valid petition. ¶7. (U) COMMENT: This is not the first time Buenos Aires has detected petition-based visa fraud perpetrated by Peruvians. Reftel outlines the case of a sheepherder who attempted to obtain an H2A using a fraudulent petition. PIMS has made petition fraud detection much BUENOS AIR 00001234 002 OF 002 easier. Clear document forgery and text searches are effective ways to further an investigation, but almost all cases associated with this petition were refused following an error listing in PIMS. END COMMENT. MARTINEZ