FRAUD SUMMARY - ROME

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ROME 001118 SIPDIS DEPT FOR CA/FPP E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC CVIS CPAS CMGT KFRD SUBJECT: FRAUD SUMMARY - ROME REF: STATE 00074840 - - - - - - - - - - Country Conditions - - - - - - - - - - ¶1. (U) Italy is a highly developed European nation. Despite recent negative economic growth, Italy remains a popular destination for labor coming from eastern European countries, especially Romania. ¶2. (U) In the past two years, the population of Romanian residents in Italy has almost doubled, reaching a high of more than 780,000 individuals. The next largest immigrant groups by nationality are: Albanians (440,000),followed by Moroccans (400,000) and Chinese (170,000). According to the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) 1 in 22 persons living in Italy is foreign-born. ¶3. (U) Economic migrants travel to Italy for work and generous social welfare provisions. Benefits include free health care, unemployment compensation, and subsidized education through the university level. Though immigration and asylum laws in Italy have become increasingly restrictive in recent years, the elimination of EU visa requirements for certain eastern European countries has allowed for easier circulation. ¶4. (U) The 75 percent increase (compared to 2007) in illegal immigration during 2008 -- 36,900 illegal aliens arriving by sea alone (according to the National Institute for Statistics ISTAT) -- led Italy to pass on May 5, 2009 a new Security Law that imposed stricter rules against illegal immigration. The law makes illegal immigration a crime punishable with a maximum fine of $14,000 and raises to six months the amount of time that illegal immigrants can be detained in holding centers before being removed from Italy. Housing an illegal immigrant is now a crime punishable with incarceration. The bill also denies illegal immigrants the right to access basic medical services and forces hospitals to report to the police all illegal immigrants that seek medical care. ¶5. (U) Italy has relatively few instances of fraud in connection with consular services. Italians, who enjoy a developed economy and access to the Visa Waiver Program, find little reason to commit fraud in obtaining visas. The Italian government has a relatively secure system for ensuring the integrity of official civil documents such as birth certificates, passports, and national IDs, and maintains extensive records of the documents issued. Fraudulent use of genuine, photo-substituted and/or otherwise altered passports 
appears more often in cases of third country nationals (TCNs), especially Albanians, who seek to board flights to western European countries or to the United States. A growing number of illegal aliens are attempting to transit or stage in Italy en route to their final destination in the United States. Those apprehended usually possess counterfeit "old style" (paper and ink) national identity cards made to match their passport data. - - - - - NIV Fraud - - - - - ¶6. (U) Since most Italians can travel to the United States on the Visa Waiver Program, fraud is rare and generally comes from TCN applicants. Most NIV fraud is easily detected at the time of the interview and usually involves unsophisticated attempts to convince officers that the applicant has spent more time in Italy or has greater assets than is in fact the case. Post also conducts periodic validation studies and field investigations for all those cases that warrant additional scrutiny. Post periodically encounters low quality fraudulent documents submitted in support of visa applications, which are resolved locally. During the reporting period the Mission Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU) did not refer any cases to the RSO for further investigation. ¶7. (U) Mission Italy's adjusted NIV refusal rate of 16 percent for the period between 01-Sep-2008 to 31-Aug-2009 is heavily skewed by TCN refusals. The refusal rate for Italian nationals is only 2 percent; the refusal rate for all other nationalities is 28 percent. TCN NIV applications account for approximately 41 percent of total Mission Italy NIV requests for the period reported above. Requests for B1/B2s account for the largest percentage of Mission Italy's workload. The most significant TCN groups for each consulate are as follows: Florence Milan Naples Rome -------------- --- India Albania Nigeria Philippines Ghana India Philippines Romania Albania Ecuador Ukraine India Nigeria Ghana Turkey Nigeria Romania Romania Romania Albania Philippines Peru Israel Bangladesh ROME 00001118 002 OF 005 Iran Philippines Iran Brazil Ecuador Senegal Albania China ¶8. (U) In comparison to 2008, the Consulate General in Milan has seen a 50 percent increase in the number of Indian applicants and a 47 percent increase in the number of Nigerian applicants. ¶9. (U) Most of fraud for the reported period involved B1/B2 visa applications and consisted of basic attempts to demonstrate stronger-than-actual ties to Italy, generally better financial solvency, and/or longer time in country. During the month of August the Consulate General in Milan saw a brief, but significant increase in fraudulent documents that were being presented for visa processing. All documents were presented by TCNs. Fraud was mainly unsophisticated and was easily detected at the time of application. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Student and Exchange Visitor Visas - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶10. (U) Mission Italy finds that the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) has made it very difficult for mala fide applicants to successfully present fraudulent documentation. Italy-wide refusals of J, F and M visas were 5 percent of total J, F and M applications over the past year. - - - - - - - - Religious Visas - - - - - - - - ¶11. (U) As the world's headquarters for the Roman Catholic Church, Mission Italy -- especially, Embassy Rome, issues a significant number of R visas. Historically, Post has interviewed R-1 visa applicants, who would present their own documentation proving their religious credentials. A small percentage of these R visas would be refused, mostly non-Catholic cases where the applicant was unable to establish required ties to the church or other religious organization. Under the new Department of Homeland Security regulations self-petitions are no longer accepted and all R-1 visa applicants must have their employer file I-129 petitions, which can be easily verified by Post through PIMS(Petition Information Management System). This has eased the burden on Post of conducting in-depth investigations of R-1 visa cases. Post occasionally sees TCN Religious workers attempt to work in the U.S. on B1/B2 visas because applicants prefer not to seek a petition; when appropriate Post instructs them to reapply for the R-visa. - - - - - IV Fraud - - - - - ¶12. (U) Naples is the only immigrant visa issuing post for Italy and Malta. It is also one of a handful of posts designated to process Iranian IV cases. A large percentage of Naples' IV cases are for the U.S. military community based in Italy. Historically, IV fraud on the part of Italian and other visa waiver country applicants has not been a problem. While no one in the Naples IV Unit speaks or reads Farsi fluently, the Fraud Prevention Manager in Naples took a distance learning course in Persian Farsi with the Foreign Service Institute. As a result, she is able to read documents and confirm relationships as needed. Naples received MRV funding in 2008 to hire a contract Farsi interpreter to assist on IV interview days (twice a week). In general however, the IV Unit staff has developed a familiarity with Iranian documents and is reasonably confident that there is little fraud among Iranian IV applicants. ¶13. (U) During the reporting period, IV fraud on the part of Italian and other visa waiver country applicants has not been a problem. IV Unit personnel occasionally identify unfamiliar supporting documents among Albanian, Eritrean, Ghanaian and Nigerian IV applicants and in those cases follow up with U.S. missions in the applicants' home countries for required clarification. The Fraud Prevention Unit also routinely uses LexisNexis to verify information or to create a new line of questioning during an interview. - - - - - DV Fraud - - - - - ¶14. (U) Naples is the only Diversity Visa issuing post for Italy and Malta. DV fraud is minimal, but when encountered it is usually related to TCN educational certificates. Submission of unfamiliar supporting documentation routinely requires follow-up with U.S. missions in the applicants' home countries. Naples has seen an increasing number of suspect documents involving applicants from Ghana. ROME 00001118 003 OF 005 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ACS and U.S. Passport Fraud - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶15. (U) Italy attracts millions of tourists annually, thousands of whom are targets of criminals eager to get their hands on cash and credit cards. In the process, criminals often end up stealing U.S. passports and other travel documents. Many of the passports are quickly discarded; some are found by law enforcement agencies and returned to post. In some cases, it appears that stolen documents end up in the hands of professional smugglers, who alter them in an attempt to transport mala fide passengers to the United States and other desirable ports of entry. - - - - - - - - Adoption Fraud - - - - - - - - ¶16. (U) The Department of Homeland Security's Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS/CIS) office in Rome is the sole office responsible for adjudicating adoption cases within Mission Italy. DHS/CIS in Rome does not currently maintain centralized statistics relating to adoption fraud, but has not found incidents of fraud in the recent past. No IR-3 or IR-4 visas for adopted children are processed in Italy, because under Italian law, foreigners who intend to adopt children from Italy are required to reside with the children in Italy for three years before the adoption is finalized and the children are allowed to depart the country. By that time, the child would qualify for IR-2 status. - - - - - - - - - Use of DNA Testing - - - - - - - - - ¶17. (U) DNA testing in U.S. citizenship determination cases is used rarely. As such, Mission Italy has no operational concerns. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Asylum and Other DHS Benefits Fraud - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶18. (U) DHS/CIS office at Embassy Rome is solely responsible for adjudicating refugee and asylum cases and other immigration cases in the region. DHS/CIS is not aware of any recent asylum cases involving fraud. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - Alien Smuggling, Trafficking, Organized Crime, Terrorism - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - ¶19. (U) Italy is geographically vulnerable to illegal aliens arriving via cargo ship from the Balkans, Africa and Asia. Once in Italy, many illegal immigrants stay or use Italy as a bridge to other countries in the European Union and to the United States. In 2008, Italy received 36,900 illegal aliens by sea, an increase of 75 percent over 2007. The most significant undocumented TCN groups (20 percent) arriving in Italy by sea depart from the Libyan coast and are from, in declining order, Egypt, Eritrea, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Of the nearly 32,000 who arrived on Lampedusa (the Italian island nearest to Africa) in 2008, 6,800 were Tunisians, 6,000 Nigerians and 4,000 Somalis. ¶20. (U) Because at least 20 percent of the illegal immigrants last year arrived from Libya, the Italian government on May 5, 2009 began implementing a Treaty signed with Libya in 2008, which allows for joint Italian-Libyan naval patrols of the Libyan coast. The treaty permits Italy to return those rescued at sea directly to Libya. Since the implementation of the joint operation there has been a decrease of 92 percent in the number of illegal immigrants arriving via sea. Specifically, 1,345 illegal immigrants arrived in Italy by sea since May 5 of this year. Of these 1,300 departed from the Libyan coast. During the same period of 2008, approximately 14,220 illegal immigrants arrived in Italy by sea. Of these 14,000 had departed from Libya. ¶21. (U) In December 2008, the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center (HSTC) notified FPM Rome that a suspect group of 6 Chinese nationals, headed for the U.S., were transiting Italy en route to Mexico with potentially false Mexico-entry documents. This use of Italy as an East-West transit point is not a new trend, but does appear to be growing, at times utilizing Cuba as well as Mexico. Post is working with Italian authorities to monitor suspect travel patterns, as well as to share alerts and develop expertise in identifying suspect documents. ¶22. (U) In March 2009, Italian law enforcement officials announced the dismantling of a smuggling ring that they say moved hundreds of ROME 00001118 004 OF 005 Indians and Pakistanis into northern Italy through Russia and other eastern European countries. The operation, called Goldfish 2, resulted in nine arrests. Indians immigrants, and to a lesser extent Pakistanis, comprise a significant percentage of the TCN NIV applicant pool, particularly at the Consulate General in Florence. - - - - - - - - Organized Crime - - - - - - - - ¶23. (U) There are five known mafia organizations in Italy, all based in southern Italy. The Sicilian mafia, `Ndrangheta and Camorra are the oldest: they started to develop around 1850. Recently, two new organizations, Stidda and Sacra Corona Unita have emerged. Furthermore, because of immigration, some foreign mafias, from eastern Europe, Africa and Asia, have started to develop in northern Italy and central Italy, which were historically free from organized crime elements. ¶24. (U) In October 2007, the Italian Association of Small Businesses (Confesercenti) released a report regarding organized crime in Italy. The report noted that organized crime in Italy represents the biggest segment of the country's economy, accounting for an estimated USD 127 billion, compared to an estimated USD 106 billion in 2006. Italian businesses most afflicted by organized crime are in the south, particularly in Sicily, Campania, Calabria, and Puglia. The report also noted that 80 percent of the businesses in the Sicilian cities of Catania and Palermo regularly pay protection money. ¶25. (U) In a temporary measure implemented in August of 2008, the Italian government deployed 3,000 soldiers to strategic sites across Italy to improve security and free up State Police units to perform investigations. The soldiers provide static guard postings, operate roadside vehicle spot checks and patrol streets in areas believed to be under the control of organized crime. The program was scheduled to finish in August 2009, but it has been extended by the Ministry of the Interior, with its termination date not finalized as of September 2009. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DS Criminal Fraud Investigations - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶26. (U) Mission Italy's Consular Sections and Regional Security Officers (RSOs) work closely to investigate fraud. Cooperation often consists of verifying passports and investigating applicants with criminal hits or warrants in the United States. During the reported period no passport or visa fraud case was referred to Mission Italy RSOs. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - Host Country Passport, Identity Documents, and Civil Registry - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - ¶27. (U) The Italian government has a relatively secure system for ensuring document integrity for official civil documents, such as birth certificates, passports, and national IDs. AFU contacts within the Government of Italy (GOI) report the most frequent fraudulent use of genuine, photo-substituted, and/or otherwise altered passports involves TCNs already in Italy, particularly Albanians, who seek to board flights to western European countries or to the United States. ¶28. (U) Until recently, Italian temporary and permanent residency permits for TCNs were paper-based, with ink-jet-printed biometric information and a stapled-on photograph. Notoriously insecure, these documents were hand-stamped and signed by government officials and in recent years incorporated lamination over the photo. During the reporting period, however, Italy began replacing the paper version and began issuing plastic residency cards, similar in size and putative technological capability to U.S. Legal Permanent Resident 'green cards.' While substantially more difficult to counterfeit, the card requires a specialized reader to access the biographical information. Since the readers are closely controlled by the GOI, visa officers interviewing applicants cannot verify that the bearer of the card is in fact the owner, nor can the officers determine when or why the TCN first entered Italy - information readily available on the old paper versions. - - - - - - - - - - - Host Country Passport - - - - - - - - - - - ¶29. (U) The rollout of the new Italian e-passport began in October ¶2006. The passport incorporates the security features of earlier versions and adds an RFI-enabled chip embedded in the back cover. The chip stores the same data visually displayed on the photo page ROME 00001118 005 OF 005 of the passport and includes a digital photograph. The inclusion of the photograph will enable biometric comparison through the use of facial recognition technology. Other security features include optically-variable ink (OVI),microprint run-on patterns in the machine-readable zone and security thread throughout the paper stock. - - - - - - - - - - Identity Documents - - - - - - - - - - ¶30. (U) During the reporting period, the GOI also introduced a new ID card for citizens. It replaces the previous paper-and-ink version and is commensurately more difficult to counterfeit. The Italian government expanded the security authorization process prior to issuing these cards, incorporating multiple levels of government-controlled approvals between each stage of card production, registration, activation, and issuance. Each card contains a secure, optical memory stripe containing an individual's color photo, digitized signature, fingerprints, and other biometrics. When an applicant picks up his card from the issuing agency, he or she must verify that his or her identity matches that on the card through electronic finger-scanning. The new national ID cards comply with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards and offer international interoperability at the level of the card's digital data. According to the Italian Ministry of Interior, the new national ID card has been recognized as a valid travel document for border entry by some 32 European and North African countries. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cooperation with Host Government Authorities - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶31. (U) Mission Italy has strong liaison relationships with Ministry of the Interior officials and police units at airports, borders and police offices country-wide. As a result of our outreach efforts, we now receive regular alerts on counterfeit travel documents and mala fide travelers, as well as same-day responses to immigration and law enforcement inquiries. Cooperation has facilitated info-sharing relating to new fraud trends, counter-fraud measures and informal criminal history confirmation on visa applicants. Mission Italy continues to seek ways to build relationships with members of the Italian law enforcement community. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Areas of Particular Concern - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶32. (U) The 75 percent increase (in comparison to 2007) in illegal immigration during 2008 - 36,900 illegal aliens arriving by sea alone - coupled with the increasing use of Italy as a transit point for East-to-West alien smuggling and the global economic downturn, mean that Mission Italy must be alert to a potential increase in fraud in the coming years. DIBBLE