2 officers from Nationality Section remain untouched in investigation

Godwin Hulse

The case against the three officers in the Passport Section seems clear, at least from the Minister’s perspective. Those three officers – Sharon Neal, Omar Phillips and Erwin Robinson, have been on suspension since late September. As we told you, the investigation into the Nationality Section was concluded on October fourth. That investigation outlined the involvement of two officers who received the Won Hong Kim nationality application from then Minister Elvin Penner. The report clarifies that no supporting documents were presented, and Penner said he would bring them back at a later date. He didn’t, but on that same day South Korean Won Hong Kim got his nationality certificate. It’s a damning report, finished four months ago, but up to a couple weeks ago the two officers named, Gordon Wade and Ady Pacheco, are not even on suspension, like their colleagues in the Passport Section.

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Godwin Hulse, Minister of Immigration

“Somebody comes into the office and applies for nationality. They bring in a file, the file is checked; in this case, Miss Pacheco is the counter supervisor for the day. She gives a receipt that says that I have received your application and lists on it all the documentation that you brought. That file is then passed on to the senior supervisor, who in that particular case was Mister Wade. It sits there, a date for vetting is established, a date for interview of the person is established. The file is then set to the special branch for that kind of vetting. When all of that documentation comes back, the file then goes to the Director with a recommendation from the Head of the Department saying all seems to be in order. The Director then does her final scrutiny—clearly she doesn’t go out to do the investigation, but she has to trust her officers—then that is then sent to the Minister with a copy of a certificate for his signature, if he agrees—because the final decision is his. The file is then returned back to the department, a date is set up for swearing in and all of you are familiar with that fanfare. It is that process that we had to determine where that process fell down. How is it that Mister Kim has a certificate which all of you showed on television without the Director having seen a file, the Head of Department saying well I didn’t vet the file and all of this and you had to first find the file? Here is Mister Arthur Saldivar saying he has the file. How on earth he got it? All of that takes time because when yo talk to people dehn say…Miss Pacheco says well I received the file; that is all I did and I put it on his desk. And how it moves from his desk and who moves it and how it gets to the minister and all of that needs to be determined before. And that is why it took as long as it did and was not as easy as the passport one.”

Mike Rudon

“Sir I don’t understand that because the investigative report clearly states that no documents were presented. That is what has come out in the investigation. So there was nothing placed on the desk of Mister Wade because the minister said—as is stated in the report—that he didn’t bring the supporting documents, but that he would bring them at a later date. And he never did. All of that is clear. I understand the process that you are outlining, but there was no need to go through that process because from the very beginning, the supporting documents were not handed in.”

Godwin Hulse

“And where you got that information from?”

Mike Rudon

“From off the report.”

Godwin Hulse

“Which report?”

Mike Rudon

“The report which was, I think it was dated October fourth.”

Godwin Hulse

“Which report is that?”

Mike Rudon

“I could give you a copy.”

Godwin Hulse

“I am going by the protocols and let me repeat for you categorically, Miss Pacheco received a file. A file was placed on Mister Wade’s desk—not fully completed—placed on Mister Wade’s desk. That’s a fact; that’s not fiction and from there somehow the Minister got a certificate to sign. That’s fact; that’s not fiction. So whatever report you read, please.”