Fake U.S. embassy in Ghana that issued counterfeit visas shut down

ACCRA, GHANA — A fake U.S. embassy that operated for “about a decade” in Ghana’s capital issuing counterfeit and fraudulently obtained visas has been shut down, the U.S. State Department announced.

The scam was orchestrated by “Ghanaian and Turkish organized crime rings” and a Ghanaian attorney, a statement said. Several suspects have been arrested, though others remain at large.

Raids led to the recovery of 150 passports from 10 countries and visas from the U.S., India, South Africa and the European Schengen zone.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said no one was able to enter the United States illegally using a counterfeit visa obtained at the fake embassy.

“This was a criminal, fraud operation masquerading as a fake U.S. embassy,” he told reporters.

It was not clear how many people were defrauded by the fake embassy, which charged $6,000 for its services.

Those running the operation were able to bribe corrupt officials “to look the other way,” the State Department said. Ghanaian officials said Monday they were still collecting information and were not prepared to comment.

“This is a shocker,” said one Ghanaian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists about the case.

Toner said the fraudsters obtained Ghanaian and other passports with expired U.S. visas that were either lost or stolen. Using them as a prototype, they then produced counterfeit visas.

But, as Toner stressed, “It’s very, very hard to counterfeit U.S. visas these days.”