FRAUD SUMMARY - LIBERIA, MARCH - AUGUST 2009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MONROVIA 000760

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/FPP, DHS FOR CIS/FDNS
DEPT FOR AF/W FOR NOLE GAREY
ECOWAS POSTS FOR FRAUD PREVENTION MANAGERS
FRANKFURT FOR RCO RONALD S PACKOWITZ

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC LI
SUBJECT: FRAUD SUMMARY - LIBERIA, MARCH - AUGUST 2009

REF: A) 08 STATE 074840
REF: B) 09 MONROVIA 648
REF: C) 09 MONROVIA 609

(U) Post's fraud summary for March - August 2009 follows according
to REFTEL:


A. (U) COUNTRY CONDITIONS:

Not much has changed since the last fraud summary as far as the
conditions in Liberia are concerned. Poverty is the norm and civil
society is slowly being rebuilt. It will be many years before life
returns to any semblance of normal as defined by American standards.
In the meantime, finding a way to the get to the United States is a
Liberian national sport practiced by all layers of society,
including even the most fortunate.

This report covers the highlights of a reporting period in which
Post's ability to investigate fraud was essentially shut down by the
loss of investigative staff and the transfer of the section chief.




B. (U) NIV FRAUD:

NIV fraud continues: most applicants are standard unqualified
travelers refused 214(b); however five (5) applicants were refused
212(a)(6)(c) from March to August, including one A2 applicant.

Applicants continue to submit all manner of fraudulent letters of
invitation, bank statements, and employment documentation. Post also
receives poison pen letters on a regular basis. The subject of the
majority of poison pen letters regard crimes committed during the
civil war. Allegations of murder, rape, and theft are common in
these letters, which are entered as "L" lookouts in Independent Name
Check System (INK).

The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) ADIS (Arrival and
Departure Information System) tool has been helpful in investigating
overstays and SEVIS violations. Post notes, however, some records
are incomplete (e.g. departures have not been recorded).
Additionally, the facial recognition and IDENT tools continue to
enable Officers to identify applicants applying with different
names, nationalities, and dates of birth from the time/s of their
last application/s.

Post remains concerned about the use of A and G visas by the
Government of Liberia (GOL) as a conduit for unqualified travelers
to enter the United States. Suspicions will be either confirmed or
denied soon as Post receives raw data for a validation study, which
includes A and G travelers, among others, during the 2008 fiscal
year. By calling travelers from the validation study whose
departure records are incomplete (i.e. no departure is recorded in
ADIS),Post has already uncovered two Liberian legislators whose
family members are still living in the United States. One
legislator's office proudly told a staff member the Representative's
children were attending public school in Rhode Island. Results of
the validation study will be reported by SEPTEL.

In addition this reporting period, two Liberian legislators who had
been issued nonimmigrant visas were involved in the importation of
stolen vehicle/s from the United States. One vehicle was confirmed
stolen by NCIC database records; RSO is currently working with an
ICE stolen vehicle task force to return the vehicle to the United
States as well as identify those involved in the apparent stolen
vehicle ring between the United States and Liberia. The stolen
vehicle remains at the Port of Monrovia. One of the two legislators
involved already had a 6(c) ineligibility, but traveled on an A
category visa and, therefore, was not subject to it.


C. (U) IV FRAUD:

During this reporting period, 80 family based petitions were
returned to the National Visa Center with a recommendation for
revocation - of these petitions, 17 were based on DNA test results.
Over half, or 43 cases, returned were marriage or fianc/e visa
cases. Relationship fraud is rampant since genuine marriage and
divorce documents can be procured with relative ease, even in the
absence of the American citizen petitioner/spouse.

Lack of secondary evidence is the overwhelming reason for 221(g)
refusals. Conveniently, proof of bona fide relationships is often
claimed to be "missing" due to the "war," a "fire," or a "robber."
While this is likely the situation in some cases, it is certainly
not true across the board, as applicants would have Officers

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believe. Accurint, CCD, split interviews, and DNA tests are relied
upon heavily in order to authenticate claimed relationships.


D. (U) DV FRAUD:

DV fraud continues unabated. Post continues to see pop-up and
clip-on spouses and children as well as imposters. Fraudulent high
school diplomas and West African Examination Council (WAEC)
certificates are the most common reason for 5(A) refusals.

This reporting period, when confirming a genuine looking WAEC
certificate with appropriate gender and school code check digits, a
Vice Consul, working with the Director of the WAEC office, found
that the information inside the genuine certificate was fraudulent.
This confirms that someone inside the WAEC office, with the ability
to enter record information and with access to the production of the
certificates, is manufacturing genuine certificates with falsified
information, most likely for remuneration. When looking up the
applicant in question's record, the WAEC Office Director found that
the applicant had actually failed the exam. The certificate
submitted with the DV application showed that the applicant had
passed all subjects. Previously a fair gauge of whether or not a DV
applicant had completed secondary school (since low quality, easily
manufactured diplomas are not),even WAEC exam results are no longer
trustworthy. A more in depth investigation into the source of the
genuine WAEC certificates with falsified information is being
planned with the RSO and Liberia National Police (LNP).

The WAEC Director gave the investigating Vice Consul copies of all
nine WAEC secondary subject exams. While this gesture of good faith
has been helpful in scrutinizing applicants who claimed to have
taken and passed the exam, it does little to rectify the complete
lack of integrity in the WAEC documentation process.


E. (U) ACS AND U.S. PASSPORT FRAUD:

Teens claiming to be American citizens without any documentation of
their citizenship are still a concern. Both last and this reporting
period there were two cases (for a total of four). To date, through
PIERS, Accurint, and thorough interviewing, none have actually been
found to be citizens.

Also, during the visa adjudication process, Officers continue to
discover that Liberians previously residing in the United States
(under TPS, DED, or sometimes, even, illegally) were able to work by
falsely claiming to be United States citizens. If Delayed Enforced
Departure (DED) eventually comes to a close for Liberians, findings
of false claims to U.S. citizenship will rise in the adjudication of
passport and visa applications.


F. (U) ADOPTION FRAUD:

The GOL's moratorium on inter-country adoptions remained in place
this reporting period. The new Child Protection Act, which calls
for the institution of modern adoption regulations, has yet to be
ratified.

In examining backlogged adoption cases, Post noted some
irregularities in nearly completed case files, including GOL
Ministry of Health and Social Welfare case studies issued after
court decrees (vice before) and birth certificates issued with the
biological parents' names (vice adoptive parents, as required by the
current Liberian adoption law). Post will report by SEPTEL an
overview of Liberian inter-country adoption processing, including
fraud issues.


G. (U) USE OF DNA TESTING:

DNA testing continues to be used in all categories of IV and some
CRBA adjudication. All testing is performed by a panel physician
and monitored by Post's EFM consular associate per the updated
guidance. A considerable number of cases eventually go to TERM 1
after DNA testing is suggested, indicating petitioners have filed a
petition on behalf of a parent or child who is not their biological
relative. While post receives a number of DNA results where the
petitioner is excluded (see IV Fraud),many do not bother to go
through the expensive, and sometimes time consuming, process since
they already know the likely outcome.


H. (U) ASYLUM AND OTHER DHS BENEFITS FRAUD:

"Lost" and "stolen" green cards are reported at a steady rate. The
most common passengers denied boarding at Roberts International
Airport (RIA) are imposters presenting green cards. Brussels
Airlines' local security company, ESM, previously sent Post airport

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turnaround reports, however since their suspension (see Section I,
below) Post has stopped receiving said information.

Post processes V92 and V93; age and relationship fraud are regular
occurrences in these cases. Additionally, underlying claims for
asylum are often found to be questionable or inaccurate by
processing Officers. While processing Officers are not authorized
to re-adjudicate the petitions, in one recent case where the
underlying claim to asylum was quite clearly fabricated, Post sent
DHS by telegram information that highlighted the inaccuracies in the
underlying asylum claim. Again, this is rarely done, since Post
processes on behalf of DHS and does not adjudicate these claims, but
when a case is particularly egregious, Post will provide additional
information as warranted to DHS.


I. (SBU) ALIEN SMUGGLING, TRAFFICKING, ORGANIZED CRIME, AND
TERRORIST TRAVEL:

As reported in REF C, the removal of two mala fide Pakistanis from a
Brussels Airlines flight to Brussels by airline officials, and the
GOL's subsequent investigation, has brought to light a well
developed smuggling operation using the Roberts International
Airport (RIA) VIP Lounge as a way to avoid normal security screening
checks. The ring was recycling stolen U.S. passports to purchase
airline tickets for unqualified travelers. Members of the Liberian
Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization (BIN),the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Office of Protocol, an expeditor for Firestone
Rubber Plantation, and one member of Brussels Airlines' local
security company ESM are under investigation for their collusion in
operating a smuggling ring. As reported in REF C, GOL officials
have yet to return the passports in question to the Embassy. All of
those involved in the ring, including organizers, beneficiaries and
local government facilitators have been entered as P6E hits.

Post has nothing to report on organized crime and terrorist travel
for the reporting period.


J. (SBU) DHS CRIMINAL FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS:

ICE dispatched an evidence team to Liberia to investigate an
American citizen for violations of the US Protect Act.


K. (U) HOST COUNTRY PASSPORT, IDENTITY DOCUMENTS, AND CIVIL
REGISTRY:

As outlined in Post's two previous semi-annual summaries, without
secondary evidence, Liberian civil documents are never considered
prima facie evidence of the information contained therein.

In one case this reporting period, the Ministry of Health and Social
Welfare and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that a
Nigerian imposter submitted a fraudulent Liberian birth certificate
and an altered passport, respectively, in conjunction with his
immigrant visa application. Even though the documents submitted
were fraudulent and fraudulently altered, the Ministry of Health and
Social Welfare then issued the imposter a genuine Liberian birth
certificate without further investigation and counter to the Vice
Consul's warnings that all other members of the imposter's family
are Nigerian and that he had demonstrated no ties to Liberia during
his visa interview. With the genuine birth certificate, the
imposter can now apply for a genuine Liberian passport, calling into
question (yet again) the integrity of even genuine Liberian
documents.

In order to help build the capacity of the Liberian Passport and
Visa Office, one of Post's Vice Consuls conducted two training
sessions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Liberian passport
adjudicators and other Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization
(BIN) employees on imposter detection and interview techniques. The
Liberian Director of Passports has requested more training at Post's
convenience citing the two sessions as the only on-the-job training
the adjudicators have received.

Liberia plans to start wide-scale issuance of its biometric passport
in early 2010. Exemplars were sent to CA/FPP last year when they
were originally created. There was not funding available, however,
for wide-scale production at that time, thus the delayed release to
the public.


L. (U) COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT:

The Government of Liberia has been generally cooperative when Post
requests assistance to verify documents. However, the Court Clerk
for the Liberian Monthly and Probate Court, at the Temple of
Justice, refuses to let the Vice Consul see court records associated

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with adoptions making it impossible to authenticate adoption decrees
submitted with IR-2, 3, and 4 cases.

There is almost no capacity to prosecute fraud and very little
Liberian law enforcement interest in fraud associated with visas
cases.


M. (U) AREAS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN:

The poor quality of legitimate documents and the ease of acquiring
genuine documents with fraudulent information is an ongoing concern.
Entrenched corruption makes seemingly routine cases problematic.


N. (U) STAFFING AND TRAINING:

As previously reported in REF B, Embassy Monrovia terminated the
employment of LES consular fraud investigator Samuel Karn and
Embassy driver Smitt Daweah following an investigation by the
Regional Security Officer (RSO) into allegations of malfeasance
against Karn.

Post's lead LES retired on September 18, 2009 after eighteen (18)
years of service to the United States government. She received a
Special Immigrant Visa for her years of service, including those
during the Liberian civil war when she assisted in the evacuation of
American citizens at significant risk to her own safety.

Turnaround time on verification requests for DHS has been lengthy
due to the month-and-a-half gap between the outgoing and incoming
consular chiefs.

Both the lead LES position and the consular fraud assistant position
are open and have been advertised. Post will work with CA/FPP and
RSO on how best to use the fraud investigator considering the poor
history Post has had with its previous two investigators. Post
believes that the pressure on LES in Liberia is too great to allow
much autonomy in fraud investigations. Unfortunately, the sight of
an American officer in many neighborhoods would result in no or
potentially false information provided by would-be informants during
investigations. RSO has also offered to help train a new consular
fraud assistant. During the next reporting period, one of two ARSOs
will also assist the section with more in-depth fraud
investigations, including the aforementioned investigation of the
WAEC office, even though there is no formal ARSOi position at post.

ROBINSON