The alleged visa racket at Norfolk House in Nassau is continuing at full pace, in spite of government assurances that an investigation was underway.
This claim was made yesterday by Tribune sources whose allegations before Christmas of a “massive” visa scam were not challenged.
However, in a release yesterday, a spokesman for the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that this “story was not credible even at the time it was originally made.”
The spokesman assured the public that all “allegations made in connection with all such stories have been turned over to the police and that their investigation is ongoing.”
The spokesman said that the police has asked the Ministry not to comment on the “ongoing investigations.” In due course, said the statement on behalf of the Minister, “there will be a report to Parliament.”
“The traffickers are still coming in with bundles of passports, and they are still leaving with the visas stamped in them,” one source claimed yesterday.
“On Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays, a whole boatload of visas are being handed out. The claims came as Tribune readers began expressing disquiet about the government’s delay in presenting a report on the visa problem.
Desiree Sands wrote in Saturday’s Tribune: “Public statements from the ministry, including the minister, indicated that the Public Service Commission and the Royal Bahamas Police have been instructed to investigate. Surely, it is time the reports were completed and the findings made public.”
The allegations centred on Haitian and Chinese immigrants who, claimed Tribune sources, were paying large amounts of money to “traffickers” who secured visas with the co-operation from some corrupt public officials.
While not all visa officials were involved, inside-sources said the abuses were extensive, with traffickers paying for quick processing of documentation for illegal immigrants.
The sources claimed that some corrupt Defence Force and immigration officials were also involved in the trafficking.
“People imagine that all illegal immigrants come on sloops which land on lonely beaches. But many of them come right into the centre of Nassau at Arawak Cay, or fly into the airport, with visas
supplied by traffickers.”
It is also alleged that many visas bear no name or photograph when processed in Nassau. They are stamped en bloc and handed over to traffickers in bundles,” it was alleged.
In a release yesterday, a spokesman for the Minister of Foreign Affairs said the story was not credible even at the time it was originally made.
“Any information in the instant story will also be turned over to the police, but we have been repeatedly asked by the police not to comment on their ongoing investigations. In due course there will be a report to Parliament.
“Once again the Tribune is using un-named sources and unsubstantiated allegations to cast aspersions on public servants. The Tribune has an obligation, just as the Opposition has an obligation to take any allegation of criminal conduct or behaviour to the police. In addition, the general public is also again invited to take any relevant information which they may have to the police.
“The Tribune newspaper, by their continued use of these unnamed sources and unsubstantiated allegations risks jeopardising an ongoing police operation.”
Source: οΎ The Tribune, Bahamas
