VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHOS #0165/01 0920606
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 020606Z APR 09
FM AMCONSUL LAGOS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0658
INFO RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0263
RUEHPNH/NVC PORTSMOUTH 0418

UNCLAS LAGOS 000165 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR CA/FPP 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFRD CVIS CPAS CMGT ASEC NI
SUBJECT: FRAUD SUMMARY - LAGOS 
 
REF: 07 STATE 171211 
 
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COUNTRY CONDITIONS 
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¶1.  Background:  Nigeria covers 356,669 sq miles and has a 
population of approximately 145 million.  The major languages are 
English (official), Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa.  Approximately 60% of 
the population is below the poverty line for Nigeria.  The current 
GDP is 1,500 dollars, and the inflation rate is 8.2%.  This high 
poverty rate, coupled with the population pressures, induces 
large-scale migration. 
 
¶2.  Nigeria has very limited internal controls over the issuance of 
documents, to include passports.  The lack of controls and a high 
incidence of bribery that permeates every level of society create an 
environment where anything and everything is available and for sale. 
 With enormous hunger for visas as an escape route, documents that 
cannot be trusted, and security situations that make travel 
difficult, Lagos is a high-fraud post. 
 
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NIV FRAUD 
--------- 
 
¶3.  Nothing new to report. 
 
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IV FRAUD 
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¶4.  Marriage to American citizens, which entitles foreign spouses to 
a preference status for an immigrant visa, has been by far the most 
common path to American residency and eventually citizenship. An 
overwhelming percentage of all petitions are marriage based and this 
makes it extremely susceptible to fraud. 
¶5.  In the following investigation, a purported husband turns 
father-in-law! The IV section sent a case to FPU in order to verify 
the relationship between subject and petitioner. This became 
necessary because it patterns the recent fraud trends. Applicant is 
allegedly the spouse of the petitioner, even though they are 36 
years apart in age. Also the address of petitioner is listed as his 
son who petitioned for him in 1995.Upon the receipt of the case in 
FPU, an on-site investigation was carried out by FPU investigator in 
order to verify the relationship. A young man was seen and 
interviewed as he walked out of the address given by the applicant. 
When questioned about applicant's identity, he recognized the 
applicant and stated that she lives with them at the given address 
which is their family house as the applicant is married to his 
younger brother who lives in California, USA. The investigator at 
this time became more inquisitive because the name given as the 
applicant husband's name is not same with the name of the 
petitioner. When questioned further on who the petitioner was, 
source stated that the petitioner is his father and at the same time 
the father of the applicant's husband, therefore the petitioner is 
the applicant's father-in-law. He stated that the applicant was 
married to her husband 3 or 4 years ago. He also stated that their 
biological mother died in 1982 and that their father has two other 
wives, who are still his wives. He stated that applicant's husband 
was born in 1963, thereby making him 45 years old. He stated that 
his father is an American citizen although he lives in Nigeria and 
visits America periodically. He also stated that his brother who is 
the husband of the applicant is an American citizen who lives at the 
same address as that listed for petitioner.  Investigation at this 
point reveals that the applicant is actually married to the son of 
petitioner who lives in the USA and not the petitioner. 
¶6.  An on-site investigation was carried out by Lagos FPU to 
determine the genuineness of an applicant's marital claims. This is 
a CR1 case. She claimed to be married to the petitioner who is an 
American.   While at the given address, the investigator met and 
spoke with a lady who is a tenant in the premises and she identified 
the principal applicant positively. She stated that she runs a 
laundry outfit at the back of the compound. She then stated that 
while her parents live at the address, the lady in question actually 
lives at a different address with her husband. She even directed the 
investigator to this address stating that there is a hair dressing 
salon as well as a wine shop at the said address. When the 
investigator got to this new address, the two ladies who run the 
hair salon were seen and interviewed. They identified the applicant 
and stated that it had not been long that she went out. They 
confirmed that the applicant is married to a Nigerian from the 
Yoruba tribe and even gave the name of the applicant's husband, who 
had gone to work at the time of the interview. Both were said to 
live as husband and wife at the address.  At this point, 
investigation impugned the veracity of the applicant's claimed 
marital relationship with the petitioner. 
¶7.  F-1 unmarried adult child of American citizen fraud: To get to 
the root of a case, an investigator at times has to mimic someone 
else. The following incident narrated exactly how an investigator 
pretended to be an applicant's friend during an onsite investigation 
which was carried out to validate the applicant's claim as single. 
At the given address, the investigator was directed to the caretaker 
of the property who positively identified the applicant and stated 
that the applicant had relocated to a new address at the other part 
of the town and no longer lived at the address. When questioned 
about when the applicant got married, he stated that applicant 
wedded last year with a woman from his locality, and that after his 
father's death soon after, he packed out to where he lives now. The 
Caretaker even gave the investigator the applicant's telephone 
number.  The investigator called the applicant and got into a 
conversation with him. The investigator speaking in native language 
and sounding very casual asked the applicant why he did not invite 
him to his wedding and did not even mention to him about his 
father's death. The applicant gave excuses and apologized for not 
extending the wedding invitation to the investigator. He admitted 
getting married last year to a lady from his tribe and stated that 
he and his wife are doing well in their new home. He also confirmed 
the death of his father stating that it threw him into confusion. 
This revelation positively put an end to the applicant's claim of 
single status.  Therefore, his claimed marriage to the petitioner is 
sham and done for immigration purpose only. 
¶8.  In a related development, an on-site investigation was conducted 
by FPU to verify if bio-parents of an applicant are still married to 
each other as this is a step child petition. During the 
investigation at the given address, the investigator met a man who 
happens to be an uncle of the applicant and he was interviewed in 
his home. He identified the applicant from her picture as his niece 
and stated that she did not live there as she lives with her mother. 
He stated that given address is a family house left to him and the 
applicant's father by their parents. The investigator questioned him 
if he sees the applicant's mother and he stated that they keep in 
touch as the church the applicant's mother attends is close to his 
house. The investigator further questioned him if applicant's 
parents have any problems; he first stated that they are fine and 
that his brother was around last year. He later recanted his story 
and stated that they have a few problems. 
The investigator visited the address of applicant's mother where she 
was met and interviewed in her home. The applicant's mother denied 
that the applicant lives with her. However, when confronted with the 
fact that her brother-in-law had stated that the applicant lives 
with her, she then stated that the she used to live with her 
paternal grandmother, however she relocated to this residence 
following the demise of her grandmother. When questioned when the 
grandmother died, she stated that she could not remember when the 
applicant's grandmother died.  At this point, the investigator 
telephoned the applicant so as to conduct a personal interview. When 
she was asked where she lived, she stated that she lived at the 
given address. When confronted with the fact that her uncle and 
neighbors had stated otherwise, she reiterated that she lived there 
and it was because she was in school that the investigator did not 
see her, until she was told that even her mother had finally 
admitted that she lived with her. When questioned when her paternal 
grandmother died, she stated that she died in 2001. She stated that 
her parents divorced in 2001 and she lived with her father until he 
traveled to America in February 2003 and that was when she moved to 
live with her mother. When questioned if her father ever went to 
visit her mother at her address, subject stated that during his 
visit in 2007, he came there. When questioned if he spent the night 
there, she stated that he probably did although she was in the 
school at the time. When asked why his father would spend the night 
alone with her mother, she stated that because they may still love 
each other.  Based on these revelations from telephone conversation 
with the applicant, it is obvious that she lives with her mother. 
Because the investigator made it clear to her that detailed 
information had been obtained about her parents, she admitted that 
her father stayed with her mother while he was in Nigeria. It is 
therefore clear that petition is for immigration purposes only as 
applicant's parent are still married. The claimed divorce between 
her parents and the claimed marriage between the petitioner and the 
bio-dad is for immigration purpose only. 
 
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DV FRAUD 
-------- 
¶9.  The relative ease of applying for a DV makes the program 
incredibly vulnerable to fraud and abuse. There are many sudden 
marriages after an applicant might have won.  FPU carried out some 
investigations to examine some of these sudden marriages and their 
facilitators. A collection of wedding albums in FPU help to 
establish different blocks of these facilitators.  Late night calls 
put nail on the coffin in an investigation that was carried out on 
an applicant's academic claims and claimed marriage. At the end of 
the interview session, the applicant's academic claims confirmed 
genuine, however claimed martial relationship is confirmed to be a 
sham and contracted for immigration purpose only.  The two 
applicants were interviewed separately in the Fraud Prevention Unit 
of the U.S Consulate, Lagos. Regarding his academic credentials and 
claims, DV1 demonstrated impressively that he is the bona fide owner 
of his claimed results. DV1 gave a graphic illustration of the 
location of his examination venue as well as his experience during 
the examinations. He answered questions on subjects very 
impressively, and demonstrated a good understanding of the subjects. 
However, as regards his claimed martial relationship with DV2, who 
is from Ile - Oluji, discrepant and derogatory information arose and 
effectively cast doubt on the veracity of their claimed marital 
relationship. DV1 and DV2 offered conflicting and contradictory 
answers to simple questions bordering on their daily life together, 
and when they were confronted with the contradictions, they openly 
disagreed with each other with no chance of reconciling the 
conflicting facts. For example, DV1 stated that he last gave DV2 
N2,500 yesterday for soup, DV2 maintained that DV1 never gave her 
money yesterday, but last gave her N5,000 for foodstuff in 
Christmas. Again, DV1 stated that he had never gone to DV2's village 
in Ile - Oluji, DV2 maintained that she and DV1 had visited her 
hometown of Ile - Oluji. Also while DV1 denied knowledge of where 
DV2's father works, DV2 maintained that he had visited her father's 
office and she even introduced him to her father. There was also the 
issue of their intimacy. DV1 stated that they began to have intimate 
contact before their marriage, while DV2 maintained that their 
intimate contact only started after their marriage.  In a further 
attempt to determine that DV 1 and DV2 are in a relationship, the 
investigator on one night telephoned DV1 at 10:45 PM. DV1 answered 
the called and was requested by the investigator to hand the phone 
over to his wife, the DV2. After some interval of close to 5 
minutes, a lady who claimed to be DV2 came on line. However, she was 
unable to positively identify herself as DV2 as she could not answer 
questions on the last interview with the investigator and other 
details that arose from that interview. She was even unable to 
mention correctly the name of her village, Ile - Oluji. As soon as 
the phone was dropped, the investigator immediately called DV2 on 
her own phone. She answered the call and her voice was distinctly 
different from that of the woman who just finished speaking with the 
investigator pretending to be DV2. She was asked after her husband, 
DV1, and she stated that her husband was not at home, but had gone 
out to get something. Asked how long ago this was, she stated that 
it was more than 30 minutes ago. Unknown to her, the investigator 
had just finished speaking to DV1 and the DV2 imposter. She was 
asked whether any call had come to her from the Consulate since her 
FPU interview, and she stated that the investigator's current call 
was the first that she was receiving since then, thereby confirming 
that the lady i.e. DV2 who spoke with the investigator earlier was 
an imposter, and further confirming that the claimed marital 
relationship between DV1 and herself is a sham. 
¶10.  In this scenario, the DV1 entered the lottery as married to DV2 
and their pictures and information were regular.  Their conduct, 
however, raised concerns and the interviewing consular officer sent 
the case to FPU for a split interview. The DV1 and DV2 were 
interviewed in the Fraud Prevention Unit of the U.S Consulate, 
Lagos. They both maintained in their separate interviews, which were 
largely consistent, that they are truly married. While probing 
deeper into the relationship at FPU, the investigator viewed one of 
the registry photos with a magnifying lens and noticed that the 
calendar at the background bore 2008 when the couple claimed to have 
been married at the registry in 2006. When confronted based on this 
observation, they confessed that they were not married at the time 
of the DV entry. In fact, it was further revealed that while DV1 
lives in a town, DV2 lives in another town entirely. At the end, DV2 
confirmed that both are not really married yet. So the claimed 
marital relationship confirmed to be a sham. 
¶11.  Paying attention to details is pivotal to the success of any 
kind of investigation. The importance of this could be seen in the 
following investigation that was conducted in the Fraud Prevention 
Unit of the U.S Consulate, Lagos where DV1 and DV2 were interviewed. 
Although DV1 and DV2 continued to persevere in their claims, and 
were consistent in their split interview, the investigator examined 
their marriage certificate and discovered that it was similar to 
that of an applicant who had confessed the previous day. The 
signatures of DV1 and DV2 on the marriage certificate were also on 
the marriage certificate of the previous day all conducted in the 
same marriage registry. Though the certificates were discovered to 
be next to the other as per serial number, the marriages were 
purported to have been conducted weeks apart. However, since the 
applicant from the previous day had confessed that the marriage 
which was conducted on paper in March was actually conducted in May, 
the investigator confronted the DV1 with the forged certificates, 
whereupon he admitted and confessed that the marriage was fixed. 
With this development, claimed marital relationship confirmed to be 
a sham. 
¶12.  A split interview was conducted to determine the bona fides of 
claimed marital relationship between DV1 and DV2. They were 
interviewed separately in the Fraud Prevention Unit of the U.S 
Consulate, Lagos. After DV1 was interviewed by the investigator and 
she recited the usual rhetoric of how DV2 proposed to her on her 
birthday, etc.  She put those statements in writing by way of a 
sworn written statement which she signed. At that stage, the 
investigator confronted her with the incredulity of her story and 
persuaded her to confess to the truth in her best interest. After a 
very long persuasion, DV1 then confessed that the post office boys 
who brought her DV winning notification in March 2008 made 
arrangements and matched her to DV2 on the understanding that DV2 
will bankroll the expenses and provide accommodation in the U.S. 
They then arranged and met for the introductions and wedding 
ceremony. After that, they went their separate ways until the 
interview morning. Upon being further questioned, DV1 revealed that 
they were coached on questions to expect, with the warning that if 
they fail to succeed in the first interview, they will be taken to 
another place for another trial with very tough people, and that at 
that stage, it was only God that could help them. She pleaded to be 
protected as the boys handling the marriage fixing and DV2 will come 
after her and hurt her if they discover that she had confessed. 
Consequent upon this plea, the investigator also interviewed DV2 to 
give him the appearance that DV1 did not give him and his cohorts 
away. Apart from DV1's outright confession, the interview with DV2 
generated substantial discrepancies and irreconcilable facts. 
¶13.  This is just one of numerous cases of which the wedding was 
staged by wedding actors. DV1 and DV2 were both interviewed in the 
Fraud Prevention Unit of the U.S Consulate, Lagos. Prior to the 
split interview, the investigator analyzed the wedding pictures and 
discovered that it matched with another wedding album in the FPU 
collection with same actors and actress performing. The DV1 who was 
asserting claims to a valid marriage soft pedaled when she was 
confronted with the fact that the man who she claimed to be her 
father is not her biological father but an imposter.  The same man 
appeared in another wedding album as officiating pastor and as the 
father of groom in yet another wedding album. She wrote a confession 
stating that DV2 is not her husband, and that the arrangement was 
orchestrated by DV agents who brought in the DV2 to finance the 
processing. She stated that they were to hold on to the Visa once 
issued until she is able to reimburse them the cost of the visa 
processing for herself. 
--------------------------- 
ACS AND U.S. PASSPORT FRAUD 
--------------------------- 
 
¶14.  Nothing new to report. 
 
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ADOPTION FRAUD 
-------------- 
 
¶15.  An adoption order issued from a court in the eastern part of 
the country and the orphan status of the juvenile was investigated 
and the outcome was nothing but fraud. This case is specifically 
interesting because of the new dimension it took. The adoptive 
parents were impersonated and the court was successfully misled.  At 
the Magistrate's Court, the FPU investigator was able to speak with 
a Senior Registrar of the Court. After examining a copy of the order 
and checking from the records, she confirmed that the adoption order 
was issued from the court.  Further effort was made by the 
investigator to confirm the orphan status led to discrepancies. The 
director of child's rights in The Ministry of Women Affairs and 
Social Welfare was met and interviewed in his office regarding this 
case and other adoption cases generally. He gave useful insights 
into the adoption situation in the state and the efforts of the 
ministry to ensure integrity in the process as well as protecting 
the welfare of the child. He confirmed knowledge of this case and 
stated that a lot of misrepresentations were made resulting in the 
erroneous issuance of the order. He clearly stated that it is 
against the law for a non-Nigerian to adopt any juvenile from the 
state. According to him, the case which ought to have originated 
from the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare, 
actually originated from a Local Government branch.  The corrupt 
officials participated in cover - ups and misrepresentations to the 
State Ministry leading to the wrongful issuance of the order, he 
stated.  At the time of the proceedings in the court, the probation 
officer had no knowledge that the adoptive parents were 
non-Nigerians and maintained that the petitioner never came to court 
for the adoption. Someone else covered up for them while the local 
officials in the Local Government Social Welfare who initially 
approved the case misrepresented to the State Ministry that the 
adoptive parents were relatives of the officials. He stated that the 
issue has been fully addressed and that the adoption order should be 
disregarded. He apologized for the embarrassment.  Though the 
adoption order confirmed genuine, it was fraudulently and illegally 
obtained. 
 
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DNA TESTING 
----------- 
 
¶16.  DNA testing has proven an invaluable tool in the deterrence of 
fraud.  There are many instances where the evidence of relationship 
that would allow officers to make their decisions is unreliable, 
destroyed, or simply not available. Family photography, aside from 
the occasional posed studio portrait, did not become widespread 
until the late 1970s and early 1980s, and birth certificates have no 
security features to speak of and can be obtained easily.  Officers 
request DNA testing fairly frequently.  The buccal swab samples are 
collected by an IV LES at the clinic where the required visa medical 
examinations are conducted.  This is a duty that is rotated around 
the section.  The Consulate sends the samples to the laboratory and 
the notarized results are returned directly back to the Consulate 
via courier. 
 
¶17.  The section is currently undergoing a statistical analysis of 
DNA findings.  A tracking spreadsheet has been created and is being 
updated to show the processing of each case in 2008 in which DNA is 
requested.  As a result of this study, we hope to produce accurate 
statistics to show how many applicants do not proceed with DNA and 
also the percentage of negative DNA results.  We hope to have this 
study finished in the next few months.  Applicants who know their 
relationship is not bona fide, in general, do not follow through 
with the DNA testing.  Post has encountered several recent cases 
where a principal applicant was asked to do a DNA test with a 
derivative child, only for the principal applicant to return to the 
Consulate and say that they changed their mind - they don't want the 
child to travel after all.  As the principal applicant (PA) has by 
this point executed a visa application for the derivative, the PA is 
told there will be no visa issuance until the requested DNA testing 
is completed.  In some cases, the principal applicant acquiesces and 
the DNA results are negative, resulting in a 6E finding.  Other 
principal applicants attempt to remove the problematic child by 
'killing them off' on paper - bringing in a fraudulent death 
certificate.  FPU investigation into these documents reveals the 
fraud, and the end result is still a 6E. 
 
--------- 
DHS FRAUD 
--------- 
 
¶18.  We continue to receive about ten requests a week for 
transportation letters from legal permanent residents who report 
their green cards lost or stolen.  Without DHS presence at post or 
access to their database, we struggle to confirm LPR status and 
determine if the LPRs have a criminal record. 
 
¶19.  The FPU receives and processes investigation requests from 
USCIS District Adjudicating Officers to verify documents submitted 
for many different types of petitions in the United States, mostly 
divorce decrees.  The FPU assists with these verifications and 
responds in a timely manner. 
 
------------------------------- 
ALIEN SMUGGLING AND TRAFFICKING 
------------------------------- 
 
¶20.  In both the IV and NIV section we see frequent attempts at 
alien smuggling, whether through a sham marriage or the addition of 
an extra child.  In some cases it is merely a member of the extended 
family who simply does not have a legal claim to the immigration 
benefit.  However, in some cases, such as the DV clip-ons, there is 
a financial motivation; someone has agreed to pay in order to have 
that person added to an otherwise-legitimate application. 
 
----------------- 
DS INVESTIGATIONS 
----------------- 
 
¶21.  The consular section in general and the FPU in particular work 
closely with the ARSO/I assigned to Lagos.  Cases are referred to 
the ARSO/I from IV, NIV, and ACS units, with the referral documented 
in the notes for the case.  The ARSO/I has aided us in pursuing 
marriage fraud rings stateside through his U.S.-based DS contacts, 
and here in Lagos he has been pursuing the vendors of the fraudulent 
documents presented in interviews.  His close working relationship 
with the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigerian police has resulted in 
the arrest of a number of fraudulent applicants.  Through spot 
reports he keeps the consular section informed of the outcomes of 
the referred cases.  The ARSO/I usually takes referrals directly 
from interviewing officers regarding instances of fraud that occur 
on a daily basis, while complex investigations that FPU has 
conducted are referred to the ARSO/I by the FPM.  ARSO/I and the FPM 
have a strong working relationship and often collaborate on 
interviews, investigations and training.  ARSO/I and FPM also 
benefit from the strong support of the Consular Chief and the 
Regional Security Officer. 
 
---------------------- 
HOST COUNTRY DOCUMENTS 
---------------------- 
 
¶22.  While Nigeria has recently updated its passport design to 
incorporate a microchip like the U.S. E-Passport, the older design 
remains valid and in circulation.  It consists of a biodata page 
encased in plastic, UV-reactant features, and the passport number 
punched into the top edge of the inside pages. 
 
¶23. The new e-passport incorporates other security features in 
addition to the microchip.  It includes holographic and UV-reactant 
features and each visa page in the booklet has the passport number 
punched into the outside edge.  It is important to note that, while 
the document itself may appear more secure, the underlying process 
in order to obtain the passport remains highly flawed.  Applicants 
for a Nigerian passport must submit a national identification card 
or a birth certificate, both of which are easily obtained on the 
open market, and they must submit an affidavit from a 'guarantor' 
who will attest to their good character.  Attempts by Nigerian 
immigration to use biometrics collection to preclude passport 
issuance in multiple identities are hampered by the lack of 
infrastructure that would allow a passport office in one end of the 
country to connect via a network to an office on the other end. 
Even with the additional security features, the Nigerian passport 
remains an insecure and easily obtainable document. 
 
¶24.  Civil documents, by contrast, have essentially no security 
features.  Marriage certificates vary widely in appearance; while 
they follow the same basic format, each local government authority 
has its own design.  Marriage certificates and birth certificates 
are both filled out by hand in ball point pen, and are printed on 
plain white paper.  These documents are incredibly easy to forge. 
In addition, controls and oversight in government offices are such 
that for sufficient payment a person can obtain virtually any 
government document from the source.  Recently, we have been able to 
spot fraudulent divorce decrees by one registrar's signature.  With 
very few exceptions, documents are taken with a grain of salt, and 
without verification by FPU that there is a corresponding entry in 
the logbook of the office that supposedly issued the certificate or 
court order, we consider most documents to be of very little value. 
 
 
--------------------------------- 
COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶25.  The FPU has enjoyed a strong relationship with the Nigerian 
Police Department for many years, referring cases to them where 
Nigerian laws have been broken.  The Special Fraud Unit has aided in 
the arrest of applicants who have presented fraudulent documents, as 
well as tracking down the document vendors. 
 
¶26.  The FPU has also enjoyed years of support from local 
governments, schools and marriage registries in our verifications of 
documents.  Lately, however, FPU investigators have been harassed by 
National Population Commission to provide money for verifications, 
usually 10,000 Naira, the equivalent of about 70 dollars.  This is 
apparently a revenue collecting scheme on the part of the National 
Population Commission.  In some cases, the working relationship 
between the investigator and the official, with whom they have dealt 
before, has meant the registrar could be persuaded to waive the fee; 
many of these government officials, however, are becoming more 
hard-line on this fee, making document verification a costly 
prospect. 
 
--------------------- 
STAFFING AND TRAINING 
--------------------- 
 
¶27.  The FPU comprises FSO Fraud Prevention Manager Kelley Irey, LES 
Fraud Investigator Supervisor Roma Eyen, LES Fraud Investigator 
Ijeoma Ndurue, LES Fraud Analyst Samuel Olorunsogo. 
 
BLAIR