US embassy cable - 05LIMA5254

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LIMA 005254 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR CA/FPP, VO, CA/EX, WHA/AND, DS 
DEPT ALSO PASS TO KCC 
MEXICO FOR DHS 
DHS FOR CAO 
 
E.O.E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFRD, CVIS, KCRM, ASEC, CMGT, CJAN, CPAS, PE 
SUBJECT:  LIMA FRAUD PREVENTION UPDATES JULY-SEPTEMBER 
2005 
 
Summary 
 
1.  (U) During the July-September 2005 reporting period, 
Lima's Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU) worked closely with 
airline security personnel and the Peruvian National Police 
(PNP) in the detection and arrest of multiple document 
vendors and brokers of false U.S., Spanish, and Mexican 
travel documents.  Training and maintaining contacts are a 
continuing priority and the Acting FPM and Visa Chief hosted 
a productive meeting with Consular personnel from 
neighboring Embassies to discuss areas of mutual concern and 
future joint training.  Field investigations and site visits 
have proven to be effective tools in combating adoption 
fraud.  The Peruvian Passport Authority improved its 
detection of fraud in the passport application process and 
unveiled a new and more secure Peruvian/Andean Community 
Passport.  End Summary. 
 
Combating Alien Smugglers and Visa Fixers: Detection and 
Arrests 
 
2.  (SBU) During the reporting period, the Anti-Fraud Unit 
of the Peruvian National Police (PNP) detected and 
dismantled several groups engaged in visa fixing and selling 
false documents in Lima.  Several organizations now appear 
to be focusing their fraud efforts on obtaining visas to 
Mexico and Europe (principally Spain) as opposed to only the 
United States as in the past.  On August 19, 2005, two 
subjects (Natali Isabel Calero Lopez, DPOB: 21May1967 Peru, 
and Rosario Guzman Paredes, DPOB: 04Aug1956 Peru), were 
arrested by the PNP after their involvement was discovered 
in a scheme to obtain Mexican entry visas for a group of 27 
"artisans" who applied at the Mexican Embassy in Lima to 
attend a trade show in Mexico.  After the arrests, the local 
Peruvian press and the PNP reported that the 27 were not 
artisans and intended to attempt a border crossing into the 
U.S.  The visa fixers were charging 5,000 USD per person to 
facilitate the Mexican visas.  FPU entered CLASS lookouts on 
the artisans and fixers. 
 
3.   (SBU) Another PNP investigation resulted in the arrest 
of Isabel Druett Janampa (DPOB: 30NOV1952 Peru), and Juan 
Martinez Huapaya (DPOB: 22SEP1946 Peru), who promised 
clients labor contracts and work visas to Spain, Mexico and 
the U.S.  In a different case, the PNP arrested Juan Cancino 
Rodriguez Vera (age 32), who was charging customers 5,100 
USD for washed or altered MRV's.  Finally, visa fixer Victor 
Leonardo Rosas Avendano, (DPOB: 16NOV1969 Peru), aka: 
"Puertoriqueno" was arrested for promising to obtain work 
visas for clients for the sum of 7,000 USD.  These visa 
fixers were all charged with fraud and prosecutions are 
pending. 
 
4.   (SBU) The PNP Anti-Fraud Unit also arrested a suspected 
passport forger at Lima's Jorge Chavez International 
Airport, (Retman Luis Rios Soria, DPOB: 16JAN1978 Peru) who 
was found in possession of three photo/page-subbed U.S. 
passports:  numbers 037279179, 152851768 and 015297252.  On 
September 22, 2005 the FPU coordinated with the TACA 
Airlines security manager and the PNP in the arrest of 
suspected child alien smuggler Flor de Maria Vera Falla, 
(DPOB: 24NOV1961 Peru). Vera Falla was apprehended while 
attempting to board a TACA flight to New York with three 
Ecuadorian children presenting U.S. passports.  TACA 
contacted FPU for verification of the passports and FPU 
provided information from the PIERS records that the true 
passport owners should have known.  The Ecuadorian children 
were taken into protective custody and charges were filed 
against the smuggler. 
 
Adoption Fraud 
 
5.  (U) Using two unannounced site visits to the home of two 
IV applicants, the FPU uncovered an adoption fraud case and 
determined that the applicants could not be defined as 
orphans under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).  An 
AMCIT maternal aunt had legally adopted the applicants in 
Peru and petitioned for the two teenagers as their adoptive 
mother after the death of their biological mother.  The IV 
unit discovered that the applicants were living with their 
biological father and that he was supporting them.  The 
petitioner tried to conceal the fact that the applicants 
were living in the home of their father by indicating a 
different home address on their DS-230 form, and the 
applicants and members of their family misrepresented their 
living situation.  When interviewed by the FPM and FPI, 
family members claimed that the biological father did not 
live in the home, that they had not seen him in six months, 
and that they had been abandoned and were supported solely 
by money sent by the aunt from the U.S.  FPU site visits, 
however, confirmed that the applicants were indeed living a 
comfortable middle class lifestyle in a well-appointed and 
clean home, that the father was living in the home, had 
steady employment, was caring for them financially, and that 
they were attending private school.  The applicants did not 
meet the FAM definition of an orphan and the petition was 
returned to DHS. 
 
Training and Outreach 
 
6.  (U) In an effort to strengthen our contacts with other 
diplomatic missions in Lima, the Acting FPM and Acting Visa 
Chief hosted a working breakfast with the Consuls from the 
British, German, Canadian, and South African Embassies and 
the Australian Consulate to discuss fraud trends and areas 
of mutual concern.  Contact information was exchanged, an e- 
mail list was created, and plans were made to participate in 
joint training on document detection, visa requirements, and 
interviewing techniques.  The FPU is working on scheduling 
quarterly breakfast meetings with other Embassies including 
Spain, Italy, Mexico, and Guatemala.  The improved 
communication and cooperation among the different Embassies 
is already bringing rewards with the detection of fraudulent 
documents and information sharing.  FPU also conducted 
training for four newly arrived FSO's and conducted City 
Fraud Tours for each to familiarize them with the many 
different neighborhoods and economic areas of Lima. 
 
Peruvian Passport Authority 
 
7.   (U) Peruvian Immigration reported that in 2004, they 
detected 180 cases of fraud in passport applications. Since 
January 2005, one hundred cases of fraud have been detected 
of applicants presenting fraudulent identity documents to 
obtain a Peruvian passport. 
 
8.   (U) The Government of Peru also unveiled a new 
Peruvian/Andean Community Passport with many improved 
security features geared towards combating photo and page 
substitution. Several cosmetic changes were made to 
distinguish the new passport from older styles with the 
addition of new colors and ultraviolet features included in 
the inner pages and cover and a new fluorescing stitching 
system.  The most significant feature is a new laminate with 
the biographic information and digital photograph printed 
directly on it.  The laminate is also designed to fall apart 
(disintegrate) and flake off if tampered with, making photo 
substitution attempts nearly impossible.  Each laminate 
includes a unique tracking number similar to a visa foil 
viewable only under ultraviolet light. 
 
9.   (SBU) Comment:  The new Peruvian/Andean Community 
Passport's security features, while not completely tamper- 
resistant, are a big improvement over earlier generation 
passports.  Nevertheless, corruption at local municipalities 
and within the Peruvian immigration service provides the 
greatest opportunities for fraud.  Would-be malafide 
travelers are able to obtain fake birth certificates and use 
those documents to obtain real passports with fraudulent 
identities.  End comment. 
 
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