VZCZCXYZ0007
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSB #0405 1281129
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071129Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY HARARE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2871
RUEHPNH/NVC PORTSMOUTH 0140

UNCLAS HARARE 000405 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR CA/FPP 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO KCC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CVIS KFRD CPAS CMGT ASEC ZI
SUBJECT: 2008 QUARTERLY FRAUD SUMMARY - QUARTER 1 
 
REF: HARARE 000118 
 
a. COUNTRY CONDITIONS: All four of Embassy Harare's Fraud Summary 
reports for 2007 reported that conditions in Zimbabwe had hit an 
all-time low.  The downward spiral continues with the added stress 
of the March 29 presidential and parliamentary elections, the 
results of which have only recently been announced and are 
widely-believed to have been rigged.  Currency shortages continue as 
year-on-year inflation tops 500,000 percent.  Basic commodities have 
been sporadically available in grocery stores but at prices that are 
exorbitant for an average Zimbabwean. Should President Mugabe retain 
power, we would expect to see an increase in visa applications, both 
valid and fraudulent.  Even if the opposition party leader becomes 
president, Zimbabwe has a long road to recovery and fraud will 
continue to be pervasive.  END SUMMARY. 
 
b. NIV FRAUD:  NIV fraud has been minimal this quarter.  The fraud 
prevention unit (FPU) confirmed two instances of passport fraud 
relating to NIV applications.  Locally employed staff (LES) detected 
irregularities in the passports, which the Registrar General's 
office confirmed as fraudulent. Both cases were shared with the 
regional security office (RSO) who is liaising with Zimbabwean 
Republic Police (ZRP) in ongoing investigations. 
 
c. IV FRAUD:  Post has investigated a handful of Immigrant Visa (IV) 
fraud cases this quarter.  Qualifying relationships continue to be 
the issue of primary concern.  In each case, the petitioner claims 
to be married to a Zimbabwean citizen but the "couples" have never 
cohabitated and are unable to successfully pass separate telephone 
interviews about their purported spouse. Revocation memos have been 
sent in each case.  Our current SOP has been amended to mandate a 
fraud investigation for all step-child petition cases as this 
particular visa category has a very high rate of fraud. 
 
d. DV FRAUD:  Instances of DV fraud are rare in Harare but 
occasionally we encounter instances of questionable "pop-up" 
dependents, or dependents added after the primary applicant wins the 
lottery. 
 
e. ACS AND PASSPORT FRAUD:  Post has seen no significant passport or 
ACS fraud this quarter. 
 
f. ADOPTION FRAUD: As inter-country adoption is rare in Zimbabwe, 
post has only processed one adoption during the quarter. Fraud was 
not suspected. 
 
g. ASYLUM AND OTHER DHS BENEFITS FRAUD:  As stated in last quarter's 
fraud summary, political and economic conditions in Zimbabwe 
continue to create the perfect scenario for asylum fraud.  Given 
that presidential elections were held this quarter and that Mugabe's 
tyrannical rule has been in the international spotlight, there is 
 
every reason to believe Zimbabwean asylum applications may increase 
in the coming months.  Post continues to verify police reports, 
death certificates and opposition party incident reports and 
membership records for pending asylum hearings as requested by DRL. 
While opposition party documents are generally found to be valid, 
other supporting documentation is almost always fraudulent.  A major 
issue is that the main opposition party, Movement for Democratic 
Change (MDC) is forced to often rely on sketchy records or memories 
rather than comprehensive membership rolls in document verification 
as their offices have been repeatedly ransacked by the ruling 
ZANU-PF party and virtually all their records have been destroyed or 
lost.  Post will continue to do everything in its power to verify 
documents as requested by DHS.  Post issued forty I-730 cases in 
2007 and currently has 110 Visas 92 cases pending. 
 
h. COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES:  In spite of the 
contentious nature of relations between the Zimbabwean and U.S. 
governments, working level contacts continue to be more than willing 
to assist Embassy representatives (Consular, RSO, Political) with 
verifying documents for fraud investigations.  During Consular 
Leadership month the Consular Section hosted a consular open house 
for 30 working contacts from host government offices, local schools 
and travel agents. The turnout was excellent; the event was 
well-received and has contributed to better partnerships with our 
interlocutors. 
 
i. STAFFING AND TRAINING:  Embassy Harare experienced a significant 
loss this quarter when our Administrative Assistant of two years, 
Joana Shumba, passed away unexpectedly in January.  The consular 
team has done its best to fill in where needed and a new 
Administrative Assistant will begin work on May 12.  As her position 
is also responsible for assisting with NIV data entry and document 
intake, post will assist her through our local FPU training module 
and will seek out regional and international training opportunities 
as appropriate. 
 
MCGEE