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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LOME 000163 
 
PARIS FOR BOB KANEDA 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM CASC TO
 
SUBJECT:  TOGO: CONSULAR FRAUD SUMMARY 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: The following is an update of Togo's Consular Fraud 
Summary for the period of October 2008 to March 2009. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. COUNTRY CONDITIONS: Foreign countries continue to show interest 
in helping Togo emerge from its prolonged economic crisis. Massive 
flooding in July and August 2008 caused considerable damage to 
Togo's infrastructure including the destruction of several key 
bridges and roads. Combined with a rise in food prices, this had a 
negative impact on Togo's economy. Currently, over 60% of the 
population lives below the poverty line. 
 
¶3. High Cost of Living: Following the universal decrease in crude 
oil prices, the Government of Togo (GOT) reduced retail gasoline 
prices by 13% on March 19. However, this is still higher than prices 
in neighboring countries. The GOT declared an increase of the 
Guaranteed Minimum Wage of 13,757 francs per month (about USD 26) to 
28,000 francs (about USD 56), but it is not clear when this will be 
effective. There are no plans to control the price of basic 
commodities. 
 
¶4. Presidential Election: Presidential elections are due to be held 
in early 2010, although no exact date has yet been announced.  The 
2005 elections were marred by considerable violence and the fear of 
this occurring again may provide the impetus for more Togolese to 
seek immigration. Currently, the GOT and political parties are 
discussing how to update the electoral code. 
 
¶5. Natural Disaster Damages: There remains significant damage to 
Togo's infrastructure as a result of last years' heavy flooding. 
Although the international donor community has provided funding for 
road construction and other general sanitation projects, the 
perception by the population is that little has been done. This 
year's rainy season began in April and there will undoubtedly be 
more flooding and damage. 
 
¶6. NIV FRAUD: Over the last six months, NIV fraud investigations 
represented 28% of FPU's total investigation workload. Most 
applicants intend to study or conduct some form of business in the 
U.S. However, post is seeing more and more K-1 visa applications. 
This is significant for FPU, as the detection of fraud perpetrated 
by K-1 visa applicants in Togo is difficult to prove. These 
applicants do not have a long history of a relationship to 
substantiate and field investigations reveal little new information 
because the petitioner and beneficiary have never lived together. 
 
¶7. Bank Document Fraud: The number of fraudulent bank documents 
presented decreased in the past six months. We assume that it is 
because of the past arrests of those presenting the documents. Four 
applicants were arrested for presenting fraudulent bank account 
statements in this time period. They submitted forged documents 
printed with the letterhead of a new local bank in Togo. 
Fortunately, the managers of this bank were very eager to press 
charges against the fraudsters and helped authorities prosecute the 
criminals. The criminal prosecution is still underway and the 
individuals are currently incarcerated. 
 
¶8. High School Diplomas with International Schools: Post has 
received a number of international high school diplomas whose 
holders say they intend to pursue higher education in the United 
States. In particular, Post received many applications from one 
school that has a history of accepting students who have dropped out 
of the Togolese public education system. The Fraud Prevention Unit 
discussed the matter with the National Committee for Certification 
and Equivalence of Diplomas. The Office confirmed that the school 
does not meet the equivalency of the International Baccalaureate 
diploma nor the Togolese Baccalaureate. The school's director also 
told consular staff that they have not been accredited by GOT (for 
almost 20 years), though the school has now received temporary 
accreditation. 
 
¶9. Pastors and Conferences: Post has seen a rise in the number of 
pastors presenting odd invitation letters for conferences in the 
U.S. In general these letters have many typos and have very basic 
grammatical errors. One such group of letters were for different 
pastors to attend different conferences on different dates, but used 
the same letterhead. 
 
¶10. G visa Fraud: A woman pretended to be a secretary and applied 
for a G1 visa. She submitted a genuine letter from the Congolese 
mission in New York, a genuine contract written by the mission, and 
a fake work attestation forged in Lome by her sister who is the 
manager of a well-known security company in Togo. Post determined 
the applicant was ineligible for the G1 visa under 6(C) after an 
Advisory Opinion from CA. 
 
¶11. IV FRAUD (Non-DV): Most IV cases seen at post are CR/IR and V92 
follow-to-join applications. During the past six months, 28% of FPUs 
workload was IV investigation requests. This is a significant rise 
from 8% in the last semester. 
 
 
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¶12. Previous DV Marriage Fraud vs. Current IV Genuine Marriage: In 
about 90% of all IV cases, petitioners were DV winners who left with 
a wife 5 or 6 years ago, divorced upon entry in the US, then 
returned to Togo to marry another woman. In most cases, the first 
marriage was contracted solely for immigration purposes and was not 
detected during interviews because post did not have a Fraud 
Prevention Unit at that time. Post then based its decisions on the 
presentation of a valid marriage certificate. In one specific case, 
the husband divorced upon entering the US and ordered that his 
subsequent marriage be officiated by proxy in Togo. During a 
relationship interview, the wife confessed that her husband was not 
there and a family member forged his signature on the official 
marriage certificate. The case was sent back to NVC for revocation. 
In total there were 23 revocations during this period. 
 
¶13. DIVERSITY VISA FRAUD: Diversity Visa investigations represented 
44% of FPU workload over the last six months, with a variety of 
fraud types. In the course of this semester, 50% of FPU overall 
verifications were related to high school diplomas, most of which 
are submitted by DV applicants. Officers refer all such diplomas to 
the Fraud Prevention Unit for systematic verifications. There is no 
major fraud concern at the moment, probably because all applicants 
know their diplomas will be verified. However, Togolese officials 
are very slow in responding to post's requests for verifications. 
Some DV applicants attempt to qualify on the basis of education by 
bringing technical diplomas or degrees earned abroad in a different 
education system, for which consular staff cannot determine the 
equivalency in the Togolese system. Post systematically refers such 
applicants to the National Committee for Certification and 
Equivalence of Diplomas. No diploma has been confirmed fake during 
this period. 
 
¶14. Employment Verifications: Post continues to use O'Net Online 
classifications to determine whether an applicants' expertise meets 
the right job zone. However, very few employment verifications 
occurred this semester as the majority of applicants hold valid high 
school diplomas. 
 
¶15. Relationship Fraud: There was a substantial decrease in the 
number of married DV applicants. Most applicants are single and 
qualified on the basis of education. 
 
¶16. ACS AND PASSPORT FRAUD: Post has not experienced any ACS fraud 
this semester. A total of five passports were declared lost/stolen 
(four "Lost" and one "Stolen").  This information was entered into 
the ACS application and replacement passports were issued. 
 
¶17. ADOPTION FRAUD: After a one year suspension, the GOT resumed 
adoptions with detailed regulations. A National Committee for 
Adoptions (NCA) was officially established in accordance with the 
requirements of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoptions. The 
Consular staff met with the President of the NCA and the information 
is currently being updated for CA and the website. 
 
¶18. DNA TESTING: DNA testing continues to be recommended in IV and 
V92 follow-to-join cases when a child is involved, and when the 
beneficiary has limited knowledge of the petitioner. The percentage 
of negative results decreased significantly this semester from 11% 
to 5%. In total 77 DNA tests were recommended over the last six 
months and only 4 results came back negative. 
 
¶19. ASYLUM AND OTHER DHS BENEFITS FRAUD: Since the beginning of the 
current fiscal year, there have been fewer asylum related 
investigations. Post verified few political party cards and is 
currently verifying civil documents. In one case the birth 
certificate was confirmed fraudulent by the vital statistics bureau. 
The marriage certificate and ID card are still pending verification. 
Already, FPU discovered that the handwriting is the same on both the 
birth certificate and the marriage certificate. The birth 
certificate was supposedly issued in 1967 and the marriage 
certificate was issued in 1991. However, the freshness of the ink on 
both documents shows that they were likely forged at the same time. 
The investigation is pending. Also during the last 6 months, post 
completed an evaluation survey for DHS. 
 
 
¶20. ALIEN SMUGGLING, TRAFFICKING, ORGANIZED CRIME, TERRORIST 
TRAVEL: GOT law enforcement authorities continue working closely 
with CA and RSO on visa cases requiring in-depth field 
investigations. Currently there are no significant cases to report. 
 
 
¶21. DS CRIMINAL FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS: The RSO continues to work 
closely with CA and GOT law enforcement authorities on fraud 
investigations. Post was able to coordinate the arrest of 4 bank 
document fraud perpetrators. The fraudsters are currently deferred 
to prison, awaiting judgment. 
 
¶22. HOST COUNTRY PASSPORT, IDENTITY DOCUMENTS AND CIVIL 
REGISTRY: Document fraud continues to be rampant at Post, and we 
 
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frequently encounter irregularities in the issuance of civil 
documents, especially at the Vital Statistics Bureaus. Often 
documents are not valid because the law and procedures are not 
followed by civil servants. Many Togolese citizens lack information 
about how and where to get the right information. In addition, the 
belief that one always needs an intermediary to help drives 
unsuspecting people into fraud rings. Over the last six months, post 
encountered a number of documents signed by the wrong people, legal 
documents naively altered by civil servants to make corrections, and 
civil servants allowing marriage by proxy, which is prohibited by 
the law. 
 
¶23. COOPERATION WITH HOST GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES: Post continues to 
work closely with the host Government on issues pertaining to visa 
fraud. Due to the many irregularities encountered with vital 
statistics bureaus, post will be organizing an information sharing 
meeting with mayors, archives and office managers, immigration 
officers, airline staff and other missions, to prevent fraud. We 
hope to share the information on the importance of fighting fraud 
and strategizing together for a common purpose. 
 
¶24. AREAS OF PARTICULAR CONCERN: Post is developing strategies to 
determine the validity of marriages or fiance relationships without 
having to go on lengthy site visits. 
 
¶25. STAFFING AND TRAINING:  During this reporting period, the 
management of the Consular Office changed with the October/November 
arrival of a new Consul, Anthony W. Alexander, and Vice-Consul, 
Marie M. Blanchard who also serves part time as Fraud Prevention 
Manager. The Consul will depart post in November 2009 and be 
replaced by Mary E. Earl. The senior FSN, who had been on extended 
medical leave, resumed work on January 20, 2009. During this period, 
however, Post lost a senior FSN and the Consular OMS was promoted to 
fill the vacancy.  Since January, the Consular section has been in 
the process of hiring a new OMS. A candidate has been selected and 
will commence employment on June 8 at which time the section will be 
staffed with two Officers and four FSNs.  In addition, the section 
will be fully staffed once the newly hired EFM's clearances are 
completed. The experience of the last six months highlighted the 
importance of cross-training for the Fraud Investigator so that she 
will be able to stand in for any position when there is a need and 
to better understand visa processing, which in turn helps fraud 
detection. The section hosted the visit of the Regional Consular 
Officer from March 9 - 12.  In addition, the section was involved in 
the visit of a multi-agency team that was looking at Togo's judicial 
system, money laundering, and narcotic trafficking, all issues of 
importance to the Consular Section. 
 
THORBURN