Forged signatures, lies mark passport applications
When we last tuned into the long running soap opera entitled “the selling out of Belize”, we left one Justice of the Peace beating a hasty retreat and another pleading confusion as an excuse for violating his oath of office. Today in our continuing investigation into the illegal sale of passports, News 5’s Ann-Marie Williams takes a closer look at the documents themselves… and finds that the people who perpetrated the immigration fraud were not only greedy; they were also not very bright.
Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting
The scandal over the sale of passports continued to simmer today as a close examination of recent passport applications reveals official complicity in the top ranks of the Immigration Department.
Of twenty-four falsified passport applications dated July twelfth, and presented by immigration consultant Gabby Affif, every one bears the signature of Director of Immigration Paulino Castellanos. Why Castellanos would sign such applications so full of incomplete and erroneous information, not to mention forged signatures, is a question that only he can answer. But Castellanos is not talking…at least not to News 5.
On Friday, in the House of Representatives his boss, Minister of Home Affairs Max Samuels, characterised the allegations of scandal as just so much political hot air…and staunchly defended the actions of his immigration chief.
Max Samuels, Min. of Home Affairs
“Madam Speaker I’d like to make a statement on immigration. Over the last few days a lot has been said by the Opposition UDP about the Immigration Department. While we recognise that the UDP is a desperate party seeking to create scandal, we have an obligation to the Belizean people to protect them from this type of malicious and irresponsible politics. The UDP in its paper has stated that some twenty-five persons have been given Belizean passports without having the necessary requirements to obtain such.
Madam Speaker, a passport is issued to a person as long as that person submits the following: A) Belize birth certificate or approved Belize certificate of nationality. B) Completed application form. C) Two passport sized photographs and D) Thirty Belize dollars. The passport office of the Immigration Department only issues passports if those requirements are met. The Director of Immigration has confirmed that all passports signed by him on July twelfth, 2002 and all other times, were signed because all necessary requirements were met.”
While we haven’t seen any passports signed by Castellanos–indeed those are presumably in the possession of Gabby Affif–we have seen the completed application forms…and they border on the ridiculous.
Let’s look at ten, all signed by Castellanos and Justice of the Peace Rudolph Thimbriel. Thimbriel, it will be recalled, is the man who ran from me yesterday in Belmopan, rather than answer questions about his involvement with the passports. A quick comparison of the ten applications shows some striking similarities. In the first place, all appear to have been filled out by the same person, as the handwriting and abbreviations used are identical.
An even quirkier trademark appears in the section that asks for the city and country where the applicant was born. In all ten applications, the city and country is answered with a single word: China. Not only is the city in China not given, but we don’t even know which China they are talking about. Is it the People’s Republic of China on the mainland? Or the Republic of China on Taiwan? Gabby Affif may be an expert on immigration, but his political geography needs some work. Also in need of work is his penmanship.
Again, a comparison of the signatures, ostensibly made by each applicant, is revealing. Either all the applicants went to the same primary school or someone is pulling a fast one, as each signature is printed, instead of written, in a style that is virtually identical in each application. In case you were unaware, this practice is commonly known as forgery.
Other consistent errors in each application include the failure to state a particular number in the street address. For instance, where the application calls for an address, they read only “Faber’s Road” or “Pickstock Street” or “two and a half miles” on the Northern Highway, thus making it impossible for anyone to verify if the applicant really lives there–or ever for that matter lived in Belize.
But who needs verification when a Justice of the Peace has blessed the application? Rudolph Thimbriel, J.P., is obviously a man with a wide range of contacts, as he has sworn that he has known eleven Chinese and three Palestinian applicants for at least four years.
As we have previously stated, the twenty-four applications under investigation are likely only the tip of an iceberg. News 5 has learned that hundreds of other fraudulently obtained passports have been issued between January, when economic citizenship legally ended, and now. In addition, there is strong evidence that large numbers of visas have been illegally granted to those too poor to afford passports.
So where do we stand? Our numerous calls today to Paulino Castellanos and Max Samuels have gone unreturned. Gabby Affif remains missing in action. We also failed to connect with Alan Usher, CEO in the Ministry of Home Affairs, who is conducting his own investigation into the scandal. While no one has made any accusation that even remotely involves Usher, there is one problem. How can he carry out a proper and impartial investigation when there is a significantly likelihood that the conduct of his own boss, Minister Max Samuels, will be called into question? Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.
Word reaching News 5 is that Alan Usher has been ordered by the Prime Minister to have his investigation wound up by the end of the week, so the P.M. can take action, should he choose to do so, by Monday.
