News has travelled the world that an organised gang based in Ghana ran a fake embassy selling real US visas for $6,000 (£4,700) for “about a decade”. How did they get away with it for so long?
The US State Department says Ghanaian and Turkish organised crime rings were running the fake embassy complete with a US flag and a portrait of President Barack Obama “unhindered… for about a decade”.
The faded building couldn’t have looked more different to the real embassy.
But, as journalist Sammy Darko in Accra explained on Focus on Africa, the customers have most probably never been to an embassy before so didn’t know what to expect.
“They also find white people there and they assume that it is the US embassy,” he added.
The State Department’s description of the operation gave more insight into how people were deceived.
“The fake embassy did not accept walk-in visa appointments; instead, they drove to the most remote parts of West Africa to find customers. They would shuttle the customers to Accra, and rent them a room at a hotel nearby. The Ghanaian organized crime ring would shuttle the victims to and from the fake embassies.”
The State Department also said the criminals running the operation were able to pay off corrupt officials “to look the other way”.
Have there been any arrests?
Several. That’s as much as we know.
The State Department is vague about this, simply saying “when the task force conducted raids, they arrested several suspects”.
They said that back on 2 November, and added that “several suspects remain at large”.
They added that Ghanaian police have warrants for their arrest and plan to pursue them.
They also said an investigation and search for the Turkish organised crime group was “ongoing”.
The BBC understands, over a month later, that this investigation is still continuing.
It appears to have been a big operation, as the State Department says the sham embassy advertised its services across Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo.
At the raid, officials found 150 passports from 10 countries.