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Immigration department suspends three officers over passport scandal

By on September 23, 2013

The fallout from the issuance of a Belize passport to a Korean National continues, even as an internal investigation by the Immigration Department is ongoing.

This afternoon, the update on the investigation announced that “a serious breach of the regulations and rules governing the issuance of passport” occurred. 

The government statement explains that the investigation so far indicates that “officers did, whether through negligence or acquiescence, allow a fraud to be perpetrated on the system.” 

According to the official statement, the Ministry of Immigration and Nationality has recommended to the Public Service Commission that three officers, none of whom has been identified, be suspended immediately pending the submission of the findings of the investigation. 

The government release ends by saying that “The Ministry is committed to upholding the integrity of the passport issuance system and has instituted additional safeguard measures to dissuade any further attempt to compromise the system and once again invoke the public’s indulgence with these strengthened measures.”

On Thursday of last week, Prime Minister Dean Barrow fired the junior Minister of Immigration Elvin Penner over the scandal. 

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