Authorities
in Ghana have busted 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 said.
Until
it was shut down this summer, 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 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
State Department said in a statement.
Turkish
citizens, who spoke English and Dutch, posed as consular officers and
staffed the operation. Investigations also uncovered a fake Dutch
embassy, the State Department said.
Officials
in the Netherlands were not immediately reachable for comment on
Sunday.
The
crime ring issued fraudulently obtained but legitimate US visas and
false identification documents, including birth certificates at a
cost of $6,000 each, the statement said.
During
raids that led to a number of arrests, authorities also seized
authentic and counterfeit Indian, South African and Schengen Zone
visas and 150 passports from 10 different 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 illegally entered the United States and other countries 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.
There
was no immediate comment from Ghana's Criminal Investigations
Division.
Visas
for Western countries are in high demand in Africa and embassies say
the visa market is a big target for organized 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.
he
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.
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