VZCZCXYZ0017
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKG #0253/01 0921132
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021132Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KINGSTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7464
RUEHPNH/NVC PORTSMOUTH

UNCLAS KINGSTON 000253 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR CA/FPP 
DEPT ALSO PASS TO KCC 
DEPT PASS TO WHA BUREAU COLLECTIVE 
PASS TO KCC WILLIAMSBURG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC JM
SUBJECT: FRAUD SUMMARY - KINGSTON (OCT 08-MAR 09) 
 
REF: A) 08 KINGSTON 000425  B) 08 KINGSTON 00091 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY.  In the first half of FY 2009, Kingston's Fraud 
Prevention Unit (FPU) focused on IV relationship fraud and enhancing 
cooperation with our partners at the British and Canadian High 
Commissions and the law enforcement community within the Embassy. 
During the past two quarters, FPU attended a half-day joint 
conference for the fraud units of the U.S., British, and Canadian 
Missions; trained 69 airline representatives on fraudulent document 
detection; and implemented additional processes to prevent criminals 
from obtaining visas. FPU received 219 Nonimmigrant Visa (NIV) 
cases, 28 new Immigrant Visa (IV) cases, six ACS cases, and 280 
external requests (database checks from DHS, airlines, local 
immigration, etc.).  FPU processed an additional 313 walk-in cases 
and entered 1,016 CLASS records based on I-275 turn around reports, 
information from other agencies and other tips.  Of all the NIV 
cases referred, 33% of IV cases were confirmed fraud and 9.6% of the 
NIV cases were confirmed fraud. END SUMMARY 
 
------------------ 
COUNTRY CONDITIONS 
------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Jamaica, located 550 miles south of Florida, has a 
population estimated to be 2.8 million and a 2008 GDP of USD 13 
billion. A high-level government official has told us that the 
government has no confidence in population estimates because there 
is nothing comparable to a social security number or national 
identification number.  The government suspects that the population 
may be significantly higher. Independent since 1962, Jamaica is a 
member of the British Commonwealth with a constitutional 
parliamentary democracy with relatively high literacy rates, an 
outspoken and vibrant press, and an open market economy.  Two 
parties, both originating from labor movements, dominate the 
political scene: the Jamaica Labor Party, elected in 2007 and led by 
Prime Minister Bruce Golding, and the Peoples National Party. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Jamaica is a major producer of marijuana ("ganja") for the 
U.S. market.  Jamaica is also routinely exploited as a narcotics 
transshipment hub with an estimated 20-25% of the cocaine that 
reaches the United States transiting the country or its territorial 
waters.  Jamaica is also a significant transit hub for other 
contraband, particularly weapons smuggling in the form of a robust 
guns for drugs trade with Haiti.  The Department rates the crime 
threat as critical. Depressed economic conditions and the presence 
of the drug trade contribute to civil unrest and criminal activity, 
including significant visa and citizenship fraud.  Illegal 
migration, transnational crime, economic inertia, and a formidable 
HIV/AIDS presence adversely affect U.S. national security, economic, 
democracy, and other strategic interests. 
 
¶4. (U) Jamaica's proximity to the U.S. mainland and well-developed 
sea lanes and air links facilitate the movements of over two million 
travelers, including well over one million American tourists 
annually between the United States and Jamaica.  An estimated 24,100 
U.S. citizens reside in Embassy Kingston's consular district, which 
includes the Cayman Islands.  Kingston's Consular Section supports 
consular agents in Montego Bay and the Cayman Islands. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The incidence of suspected fraud in many government 
agencies is high.  Visa applicants often submit forged or altered 
birth, marriage, and police certificates.  Transparency 
International's annual index of corruption, announced 25 September 
2008, showed Jamaica falling 12 places (from 84 to 96) during 2008 
on the list of 180 countries surveyed. 
 
----------------------- 
NONIMMIGRANT VISA FRAUD 
----------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) H-2B PETITION FRAUD: Post has seen a number of incidences 
of suspicious H2B petitions with Victor Krus listed as the agent. 
Victor Krus and Dzmitry Krasautsau are the subjects of a criminal 
investigation for smuggling unauthorized aliens and visa fraud. 
Many of the unauthorized aliens were from Jamaica, Brazil and 
various Eastern European countries. 
 
¶7.  (U) NIV DUAL IDENTITY CASE: A female imposter was recognized 
during pre-screening for her NIV interview as having had another 
identity other than that on her visa application.  Shawna Ann 
Williams returned to the embassy under the name Francine Natasha 
Minto after a visa refusal.  The pre-screener remembered Ms. 
Williams from her prior NIV interview. 
 
¶8. (U) J-1 SUMMER WORK AND TRAVEL PROGRAM:  We continue to subject 
applicants for this program to pre-interview checks to verify 
post-secondary school enrollment.  Summer work and travel validation 
studies and outreach are a priority for post.  We plan to complete a 
validation study of this group in the next quarter.  In March, the 
FP Operations Officer attended a conference on the summer work and 
travel program in Washington, D.C. to collaborate with our 
counterparts world-wide on fraud trends and best practices. 
 
¶9. (SBU) H-1B PETITION REVOCATIONS: In the second quarter of 2009, 
Kingston sent two H-1B petitions to USCIS for revocation.  An 
additional H-1B applicant withdrew her application after learning 
that her immigration consultant was connected with fraudulent H-1B 
employment in the U.S. 
 
¶10. (SBU) In the first case, the applicant presented falsified 
documents during her 2005 H-1B visa interview and was issued the 
visa. The applicant admitted to the FPM during her renewal visa 
interview in April 2008 that her supposed employer, Eden House 
Foundation of Atlanta, did not exist. She further admitted that she 
had been working illegally as a practical nurse in New York for the 
past three years. She also admitted that Ms. Sharon Lee of 
U.S.-based immigration consultant Taylor Lee & Associates in Miami, 
Florida had provided her with a cover story and had prepared her for 
her initial interview in exchange for a significant fee.  This case 
was investigated for ties to a larger fraud ring and the petition 
revocation was submitted this quarter. 
 
¶11. (SBU) In the second case, the applicant grossly exaggerated her 
experience as Managing Director of a wholesale operation in order to 
supplement three years of university education. In actuality, the 
applicant worked at her mother's grocery store and was related to 
most of the employees.  The applicant's job letter asserted a list 
of duties that she performed, but the applicant was unable to 
explain how she carried out her duties.  In some cases, the 
applicant directly contradicted her job letter.  For example, 
according to her job letter, the applicant researched and 
coordinated on all local insurance policies and liability matters. 
When asked about this process, the applicant answered that she calls 
her stepfather and asks him to call insurance companies. 
 
¶12. (SBU) L-1A PETITION REVOCATION: In the second quarter of 2009, 
Kingston sent one L-1A petition to USCIS for revocation.  The 
applicant tied to the L-1A revocation had never made a payment on 
the lease submitted to USCIS six months earlier.  Additionally, FPU 
could not find contact information for the owner listed on the lease 
agreement.  As a result, post believes that the lease was fraudulent 
and that the applicant had not established sufficient physical 
premises to house the new office. 
 
 
-------------------- 
IMMIGRANT VISA FRAUD 
-------------------- 
 
¶13. (U) FPU staff conducted six field investigations on seventeen 
immigrant visa cases between November 2008 and February 2009.  Two 
of the Unit's LES Fraud Investigators and an entry level officer 
participated in these trips.  The field trips covered six of 
Jamaica's parishes [local administrative unit equivalent to a U.S. 
county] and resulted in the completion of eleven immigrant visa case 
investigations, of which five were determined to be based on a 
fraudulent relationship.  FPU plans to continue to organize these 
field trips bimonthly. 
 
¶14. (U) Kingston has encouraged (but not required) many applicants 
in romantic relationship cases (IR1, CR1, K1, K3) who do not 
immediately convince the adjudicating officer of the bona fides of 
their relationships to bring petitioners to their follow-up 
interviews.  The higher percentage of petitioners present at 
follow-up interviews has improved the officers' ability to detect 
relationship fraud.  Also, FPU's LES investigators have conducted 
more "split" interviews of the petitioner and applicant in recent 
months, applying their wealth of local knowledge and years of 
experience to garner more confessions of relationship fraud and 
saving adjudicating officers interview time.  These successful 
"split" interviews also save FPU time and resources by reducing the 
number of local field investigations required to complete fraud 
reviews of questionable immigrant visa cases. 
 
-------- 
DV FRAUD 
-------- 
 
¶15.  (U) Jamaicans are not eligible to participate in the DV 
program.  Kingston processes only a minuscule number of cases for 
applicants from other countries. 
-------------------------------------------- 
AMERICAN CITIZEN SERVICES AND PASSPORT FRAUD 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶16. (U) U.S. PASSPORT FRAUD: In January 2009, Jamaican immigration 
officials notified ARSO-I of an individual believed to be carrying a 
photo-subbed U.S. passport in an attempt to board a flight from 
Montego Bay to the United States.  The subject was interviewed after 
immigration officials noticed fraudulent indicators on the passport, 
during which he claimed he was born in Florida and possessed a 
genuine U.S. passport.  After verifying the passport information in 
the CCD, ARSO/I discovered the passport was issued to a person of a 
different name and date of birth.  The individual was arrested and 
charged with presenting false documents. 
 
-------------- 
ADOPTION FRAUD 
-------------- 
 
¶17.  (U) FPU regularly investigates adoption cases where the 
applicant's orphan status is uncertain.  There has been an increase 
in cases referred to FPU, with most applicants adopted close to 
their sixteenth birthday.  Nine cases were referred to FPU between 
October 2008 and February 2009, with one case including two children 
adopted by the same petitioner.  This case is currently being 
investigated. Jamaica has a tradition of "informal" adoptions, which 
makes it difficult for Jamaican applicants to establish their 
eligibility as orphans under U.S. law.  Often, an applicant's 
relatives in the United States will adopt the applicant, despite the 
fact that the applicant does not qualify as an orphan.  FPU conducts 
regular field investigations to the applicants' homes in order to 
determine who is caring for the applicant and whether the family 
meets the poverty definitions of the INA. 
 
------------------ 
USE OF DNA TESTING 
------------------ 
 
¶18. (U) Kingston processes a high volume of cases where DNA testing 
is recommended.  It is common in Jamaica for fathers not to be 
listed on their children's birth certificate, or for the father or 
child's name to be added later, with little or no supporting 
documentation provided proving the relationship at the time the name 
is added.  As a result, the biological relationship of IV and ACS 
applicants is often questionable.  Approximately 20% of all cases 
where DNA is done resulted in no biological relationship. 
 
----------------------------------- 
ASYLUM AND OTHER DHS BENEFITS FRAUD 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶19. (U) Post's DHS/USCIS Officer-in-Charge reported no asylum cases 
for the period of September 2008 - March 2009. 
 
------------------------------ 
ALIEN SMUGGLING, TRAFFICKING, 
----------------------------- 
--------------------------------- 
ORGANIZED CRIME, TERRORIST TRAVEL 
--------------------------------- 
¶20. (U) FPU and ARSO-I work closely with law enforcement 
counterparts within the embassy and maintain a monthly collaboration 
meeting to foster greater information sharing.  The Department of 
Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the primary 
agency at post that handles alien smuggling and trafficking cases. 
Organized crime and terrorist travel are addressed in conjunction 
with several law enforcement agencies at post and include FPU and 
ARSO-I on issues as they arise. 
 
-------------------------------- 
DS CRIMINAL FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS 
-------------------------------- 
¶21. (U) THREE NIV APPLICANTS ARRESTED: Three NIV applicants were 
arrested outside the U.S. Embassy after LES process facilitators 
witnessed the applicants collecting fraudulent documents from well 
known document vendors.  Coordination with the Consular Section's 
process facilitators, FPU, ARSO-I and the Jamaican Constabulary 
Force led to the arrests.  All three subjects were fingerprinted, 
interviewed and arrested after admitting to the ARSO-I that they had 
purchased fraudulent employment letters, bank statements and 
mortgage letters prior to the NIV interviews. 
 
 
----------------------------------------- 
HOST COUNTRY PASSPORT, IDENTITY DOCUMENTS, 
----------------------------------------- 
------------------ 
AND CIVIL REGISTRY 
------------------ 
 
¶22. (U) Document forgers, corrupt government officials and poor law 
enforcement assist alien smuggling rings operating in the country. 
The incidence of suspected fraud in many government agencies is 
high.  The Jamaican government (GOJ) has issued a secure passport, 
but issuance procedures are poor and a new identity complete with a 
GOJ issued passport continues to be easy to attain. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶23. (U) FPU continues to have an outstanding working relationship 
with the Jamaican Registrar General's Department (RGD) verifying 
civil documents.  All cases involving altered RGD documents continue 
to be referred to the RGD's fraud department, regardless of whether 
the fraud would result in potential visa ineligibilities.  This new 
system allows the RGD to attempt to pinpoint the sources of these 
fraudulent documents, thereby resulting in the arrests of all 
responsible individuals. 
 
¶24. (U) FPU continued our public outreach efforts with airline and 
immigration officer training in November.  FPU trained approximately 
69 new airline representatives on the detection of fraudulent 
documents, facial recognition and U.S. travel document requirements. 
 
 
------------------------------- 
COOPERATION WITH OTHER MISSIONS 
------------------------------- 
 
¶25. (SBU) Cooperation with our colleagues at the British and 
Canadian High Commissions is one of FPU's highest priorities.  All 
three Missions face common fraud threats, so it is clear that we can 
each target fraud more effectively through communication and 
information sharing.  FPU attended a conference at the Canadian High 
Commission with fraud officers from the French and Germany 
Embassies, and from the British and Canadian High Commissions.  The 
conference was a continuation of the meeting we hosted in the third 
quarter of 2008, and focused on information sharing, fraud trends 
and detection techniques, and a discussion to finalize the 
memorandum of understanding in order to share deportee lists.  The 
conference was largely a success, as we now distribute information 
on dangerous criminals found in media briefs between the respective 
missions.  The British High Commission presented an overview of 
their risk assessment unit, while we presented an overview of 
fingerprint mutilation.  Both presentations sparked lively debate 
about identity theft and the economy's affect on fraud trends.  FPU, 
in conjunction with our British and Canadian partners, plans to make 
the conference a quarterly event. 
 
--------------------------- 
AREAS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN 
--------------------------- 
 
¶26. (U) Post has recently seen an increase in H2B agents petitioning 
for applicants to go to worksites (in particular, hotels) where 
there is not sufficient work for them.  The most recent example came 
to the attention of Post by the US Consulate in Monterrey.  Kingston 
had been adjudicating a petition from GB Capital.  Monterrey noted 
that both the owner of GB and their lawyer contacted them directly 
stating that the workers were required but when Monterrey FPU spoke 
to the hotel, they confirmed that the workers were not required and 
that in fact had been laying off workers due to the economic 
downturn.  Post plans to continue to work with Monterrey on this and 
other H2B cases. 
 
---------------------------- 
STAFFING AND TRAINING ISSUES 
---------------------------- 
 
¶27. (U) The Fraud Prevention Operations Officer position has been 
filled by Katherine Rafaniello, replacing Christiana Foreman who 
left post in February.  Melissa Bishop remains as the Fraud 
Prevention Manager, in addition to her duties as the Deputy Chief of 
the Visa Unit, with primary responsibility for NIV operations.  In 
February, Mrs. Rafaniello attended the Fraud Prevention for Managers 
course at FSI.  Two new FPU FSN positions have been classified 
through the CAJE system and post expects to fill the positions 
within the next month. The current FPU FSN positions have been 
"re-CAJEd", resulting in a promotion of all three FSNs. 
HEG