DEC 9 FAKE U.S. EMBASSY FOUND IN GHANA

Guess which building is the ACTUAL embassy

FEB 9 FAKE U.S. EMBASSY FOUND IN GHANA

Big news from West Africa this week. Officials in Ghana announced they uncovered a fake US embassy operating in the capital Accra. Although currently shut down, it has been open for the last ten years. In addition to selling stolen visas and passports, they also have issued fraudulent documents as well. While the US State Department has been slow to offer details, here’s the questions the DUNER BLOG can answer. 

The obvious first question is: How could something as large as an embassy operate without people noticing? Not interested in attracting attention, the office had very little signage on the outside of the building. In fact, no ‘drop-ins’ were allowed; only those with appointments were allowed inside. Basically, the ‘embassy’ recruited customers from outside Accra. Folks from rural parts of Ghana and neighboring Ivory Coast and Togo would apply and then come to the city for their scheduled meetings.

Next up: When the customers got inside, didn’t they question the legitimacy of the embassy? Once past the front door, the deception begins. Everything was made to look like an official US operation. The crime syndicate studied what other US embassies looked like and copied them to a ‘T.’ Upon arrival, a towering framed photo of President Obama hung on the wall. Actual State Department memos were plastered on bulletin boards. They even had up-to-date laptops and iPhones at each desk.

Finally, what about the staff workers themselves? Didn’t people notice the officers weren’t Dick and Jane from the good ol’ USA? To solve this problem, the Ghanaian Crime Syndicate enlisted the help of a Turkish gang. With the ambiguous ethnicity of Turks, they were able to fool ordinary Africans into thinking they were American staff. Another way the embassy appeared to be legit.

All in all, it was quite an elaborate and effective scheme. In fact, the only time people questioned the legitimacy of the satellite embassy was when they received the bill. Each visa issued cost US$6,000! Which takes us to the real issue in this blog: Some people are so desperate to enter the United States of America, they will give their life savings to do so. The State Department has yet to respond to reporters' questions about how many people managed to enter the USA from the faux embassy and whether they plan to deport any of them. What a mess!!