A Dijín investigation reveals how a criminal group charged up to 40 million pesos for fraudulent American visa procedures.
News Colombia.
A scam and fraud scandal involving the promise of American visas for Colombian citizens was recently exposed, when the Dijín, in collaboration with the Attorney General’s Office, dismantled a criminal organization that profited by exploiting the desire of hundreds of people. for migrating to the United States.
The organization, according to authorities, charged between 20 and 40 million pesos from each interested party to process visas illegally, managing to deceive almost 100 people in less than six months.
The organization even had a “visa school,” designed to prepare applicants in creating false profiles and simulating extreme circumstances, such as family emergencies, which made it easier to request emergency appointments with the United States Embassy.
Tracking the visa scam network
In an undercover operation, a Dijín agent recorded one of the band members, who assured that the procedure could be completed in less than a month.
In the recordings, he explained to the researcher how the organization could obtain an appointment in record time, using supposed “humanitarian visas” under the justification of fictitious family emergencies.
Thus, the team of scammers constructed detailed narratives to present to the consulate, including stories about the death of relatives in the United States and the need to attend memorial masses.
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An investigator from Dijín recounted in an interview with Noticias Caracol how the gang justified the urgency of each request to the consulate, managing to manipulate appointment times and obtain early hearings with embassy officials, who were unaware of the fraudulent nature of these emergencies. .
“They make a request for a humanitarian visa or emergency appointment to advance the times of this appointment with the consul,” explained the officer, detailing that the organization took advantage of delicate human situations to give an appearance of legality to their deceptions.
There were six captures
According to police reports, the leader’s team of collaborators not only withheld personal documents such as the victims’ passports to simulate legality, but also signed false contracts to provide services, a trick designed to make clients feel protected and committed.
Those involved will be prosecuted for multiple charges, including fraud, falsification of documents and fraud.
The US embassy has already begun to investigate emergency cases that, under fraudulent assumptions, managed to evade routine system reviews.
Meanwhile, Colombian authorities urge those who have been victims of this scheme to report their experiences through the social networks of the Dijín and the Prosecutor’s Office General of the Nation, a measure that they hope will encourage other victims to report without fear.
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