Move over FAKE NEWS. How about FAKE Embassies?

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

The official story, thank you. What were these "legitimate" visas used for? To get into the US? I doubt that. They were used to flash at other countries borders, for whatever 'criminal' reason, that didn't draw any attention.

Edit:

...for a decade issued illegally obtained authentic visas...

Doesn't sound like they were forgeries to me.

a reply to: loam

The underground network of fake visas, that actually are not fake but when the US government is not the issuer they are considered fake.

What that tells you, the visa business is big business, we have in the US legal immigration offices run by law firms that sell them to wealthy middle eastern people and is legal, because they are call donations.

The visa business need to stop end of discussion

a reply to: intrptr

I think I'll go with counterfeit.

As to what use a counterfeit US passport/Visa would have? They are multitudinous.

Ease of movement being probably primary, but I'm sure others could be postulated. Money laundering, implying US involvement where there really isn't any, hiding under an assumed identity are all possible.

Re: "official story," I generally never take anything at face value and am always looking for hidden motivations/angles.

Guess I'm just cynical like that.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

I think I'll go with counterfeit.

Nothing in the statement said "counterfeit", In fact as I showed above, the claim was "authentic".

As to what use a counterfeit US passport/Visa would have? They are multitudinous.

Including recruiting for covert ops. Anyway, use of Visas is tracked, especially US ones.

Re: "official story," I generally never take anything at face value and am always looking for hidden motivations/angles.

First suspect, the official story. Read that, cover story. When they issue statements calling it criminal, they are right.

a reply to: intrptr

I say counterfeit because:

The state department did not say how many false documents had been issued over the past decade. However, it said that in the raid officials from the real US embassy, together with Ghanaian police, had seized 150 passports from 10 countries. There were also “legitimate and counterfeit visas from the US, the Schengen zone, India and South Africa; and counterfeit identity documents”, it said.

Some arrests were made, though the ringleaders are believed to have escaped, according to Emmanuel Dogbevi, managing editor of Ghana Business News, which broke the story last Friday.

“Several suspects remain at large, but Ghanaian police have warrants for their arrest and plan to pursue them,” the state department said.

Referring to the fact that some legitimate visas were issued, Mr Dogbevi said: “One assumption is that there might be some people in the [real] embassy who were facilitating that. How else could they have got hold of genuine visas?”

Financial Times

They make note that there were both legitimate and counterfeit visas found. And it looks like I'm not the only one to think that there may also be someone on the inside at the State Department considering that some of the visas were "legitimate."



Even the "legitimate" visas could be considered counterfeit since they were not issued by the authorized authority to do so. Look up "super notes," they were fake $100s that Korea printed. These notes had all of the appearance and security features of U.S. produced $100 bills; printed on the correct paper with the proper ink etc., but they were not authorized and were thus considered counterfeit.

a reply to: jadedANDcynical

All I got to go on was the word "authentic". Thats different than counterfeit or forgery.

Maybe its a misuse of the term.

Like saying "Original Gi Issue" as opposed to Gi "Type". Ones a knock off, the other "authentic".