BOGUS US EMBASSY IN GHANA ISSUED WORK VISAS FOR YEARS

Some of the counterfeit documents seized by law enforcement.

A Turkish organized crime syndicate, working with local Ghanian talent, operated a completely bogus "American Embassy" in Accra, Ghana, for several years, issuing legitimate, but stolen, US work visas to nationals from Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Togo, together with additional counterfeit forms of identification. including Ghanian passports, and visas for the Schengen Zone. The criminals bribed local law enforcement officers, to ignore their scam; they may have been open for as long as ten years.

The bogus visas allow individuals to enter, and remain, in the United States, irrespective of their criminal records, terrorist leanings, or other characteristics that render them unsuitable, under US immigration laws. Compliance officers at US banks, whose clientele might include foreign nationals from those three West African nations, would be well advised to initiate enhanced due diligence upon all such customers whose background indicates they could be holding bogus visas, and possibly passports.