Police prepared to probe US visa sale scam - Gajraj Stabroek News April 2, 2000 The Home Affairs Ministry is prepared to pursue a local investigation of the US visa sale scam for which a US embassy official and a Guyanese are before a federal court in the United States. Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj, told Stabroek News that he has asked the US authorities to make available any information linking locals to the visa sale scam. Gajraj said that at this time, he would prefer the police to work in conjunction with the US authorities to see if there were any satellite activities involving Guyanese or non-Guyanese residing in Guyana. He explained that the genesis of the criminal activity was in the US embassy and in working along with the US authorities the police would be able to pinpoint any involvement of Guyanese or other persons residing in Guyana. However, the minister observed that prosecution of those persons could be complicated because if the information suggested that the offence was committed at the US embassy, there could be jurisdictional issues to be resolved. He cited a case in which two young ladies were before the court for tendering forged documents at the US embassy and their lawyer had argued, among other things, that the local court had no jurisdiction as the offence was committed in a US jurisdiction. However, questioned as to what would be the situation if the person(s) involved were on a work permit, Gajraj said the ministry would be prepared to revoke any status conferred on an alien if evidence revealed the alien was involved in any criminal activity. Unconfirmed reports suggest that there might be some involvement by non-Guyanese. Other unconfirmed reports say that the embassy official, Economic Affairs Officer, Thomas Carroll, had used a popular Chinese restaurant in downtown Georgetown as a key recruiting point. Meanwhile, the minister said that his ministry was still to be informed by the US Justice Department of the names of the police officers allegedly involved with Carroll. In a statement to the court in Chicago last week, Richard Pilger, a Justice Department lawyer, objecting to Carroll's release on bail cited the involvement of the officers, without providing their names, as one of the reasons why the court should refuse bail. Police Commissioner Laurie Lewis had told Stabroek News that he had not been informed by the US authorities about the involvement of two officers. He said he was prepared to take the appropriate action if hard evidence in support of Pilger's allegation was provided to the Police Force. With regard to the Guyanese charged along with Carroll, Halim Khan, Stabroek News understands that the Revenue Authority is awaiting the outcome of the court case in Chicago to see whether there was any unreported income on which taxes were due. Khan owns a restaurant at Zeeburg, West Coast Demerara, is a native of nearby Uitvlugt and is also said to be a spare parts dealer. He was active in the community policing group in the area and reportedly donated a frequency scanner to the police in early 1993. He is said to be the owner of a number of luxury cars one of which, a Mercedes Benz, was driven only on the West Demerara. He is also reported to have taken a number cultural groups on tour to Canada and had sponsored a number of programmes for various Muslim groups. Stabroek News has also checked with the Guyana Airways 2000 and North American Airlines to see whether the US agencies investigating the scam had been in touch with them to help in tracing those persons to whom visas had been sold by the Carroll/Khan ring. However, the North American official said that the best way of tracing those persons was for the authorities to check their computers at ports of entry to ascertain the addresses they gave when they landed.