Authorities in Ghana have closed a fake US embassy in the capital Accra run by a criminal network that for a decade issued illegally obtained authentic visas, the US State Department says.
Until it was shut down in the past few months, the sham embassy was housed in a run-down, pink two-storey building with a corrugated iron roof and flew a US flag outside. Inside hung a portrait of US President Barack Obama.
“It was not operated by the United States government, but by figures from both Ghanaian and Turkish organised crime rings and a Ghanaian attorney practicing immigration and criminal law,” the US State Department said in a statement released late on Friday.
Sham US Embassy, Ghana
Turkish citizens, who spoke English and Dutch, posed as consular officers and staffed the operation. Investigations also uncovered a fake Dutch embassy, the US State Department said.
The crime ring issued legitimate, but fraudulently obtained, US visas and false identification documents, including birth certificates at a cost of $US6000 each, the statement said.
“The investigation identified the main architects of the criminal operation, and two satellite locations (a dress shop and an apartment building) used for operations,” the statement said.
During raids that led to a number of arrests, authorities also seized authentic and counterfeit Indian, South African and European Union visas and 150 passports from 10 countries along with a laptop and smart phones.
The statement did not say how the gang obtained the authentic visas. And the State Department did not say how many people were believed to have entered the US and other countries illegally using visas issued by the crime ring, which used bribery to operate unhindered.
“The criminals running the operation were able to pay off corrupt officials to look the other way, as well as obtain legitimate blank documents to be doctored,” the statement said.
The Real US Embassy, Ghana
Visas for Western countries are in high demand in Africa and embassies say the visa market is a big target for organised crime.
The real US embassy in Ghana is a prominent and heavily fortified complex in Cantonments, one of the capital’s most expensive neighbourhoods. Lines of people queue outside each day for visa appointments and other consular business.
The fake embassy was open three mornings a week and did not accept walk-in appointments. Instead, the criminals advertised on billboards in Ghana, Togo and Ivory Coast and brought clients from across West Africa to Accra where they rented them hotel rooms in nearby hotels.
US authorities conducting a broader security operation were tipped off about it and assembled a team including the Ghana Detectives Bureau and police as well as other international partners to shut down the ring.
The dress shop acted as both a front for the operation – it was open to the public for alterations and buying dresses – as well as housing some of the document production. It housed an industrial sewing machine the gang would use to recreate the binding on the fake passports, the statement said.
Several suspects remain at large, but Ghanaian police have warrants for their arrest. The investigation and search for the Turkish crime group continue.
