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Italian job visa scam: Rome orders full probe, investigation extends to embassy here
View(s):Italian authorities have ordered a full probe on the alleged scam involving the misuse of 480 Italian job visas and has sought the cooperation of the Government for this, officials said yesterday. In a tough message issued to the Italian Embassy in Colombo, Italian authorities had said a quick and full probe should be conducted immediately and a report submitted soon.
The Sunday Times in its front page lead story last week exclusively reported the alleged scam. The officials said the probe would also focus on possible connivance of errant embassy employees and local officials who were expected to handle the job recruitment in a legitimate and transparent manner.
Following the concerns expressed by the Italian Foreign Ministry, the local embassy’s deputy chief, Giandomenico Milano, held a two-hour discussion with Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau (SLFEB) Chairman Nandapala Abeywickramasooriya on Wednesday.
Details of the discussion at SLFEB office in Battaramulla were not available but sources privy to the meeting said the Italian envoy had expressed serious concerns and sought the cooperation of the Bureau in the ongoing probe. Mr. Abeywickramasooriya himself refused to comment on the meeting, claiming that it would violate the code of ethics outlined by Elections Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya.
The elections Chief had earlier requested the media to refrain from publishing news in favour or against any particular party or candidate at the August 17 parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, the Foreign Employment Ministry has launched a separate investigation into the alleged Italian job scam where employment visas had gone missing without a trace and are believed to have been sold on the black market for a staggering amount, Ministry Secretary W.G. Vithanage said yesterday.
“I have called for a full report by the SLFEB’s General Manager K.O.D.D Fernando. Present officials both at the ministry and the Bureau are clueless over the issue since the matter was handled by certain officials of the previous administration,” he said.
The Italian authorities had also warned they would blacklist Sri Lanka on the job market following the alleged scandal where the visas had been sold for a staggering Rs. 500 million or even more.
Faizer Maickeen, President of Association of Licensed Foreign Employment Agencies (ALFEA), told the Sunday Times his association had also taken the matter up with the Ministry Secretary who had promised a full probe soon. “ALFEA is the largest stakeholder in the foreign employment industry handling nearly 80 per cent of the volume. But we were deliberately kept out of this vital contract,” he said.
He also hit out at the attitude of the Italian Embassy saying it should take more interest and should have monitored the visa issue from the start. The latest developments come in the back drop of a major re-shuffle in the Italian Embassy to stamp out sleaze and corruption in the issue of visas on questionable supporting documents in return for large fees given to errant employees, top officials said yesterday.
At least three or more senior local officials have been moved out of the embassy’s visa section this year and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is also probing a complaint of fraud against one employee, they said. The officials speaking on conditions of anonymity said the mission had been rocked with fraud and corruption for the past 12 years where thousands of visas were issued on questionable documents and millions of rupees exchanged hands at many levels inside the embassy.
According to the officials most of the supporting documents needed to process a visa — whatever the category may be — are doctored and then allegedly overlooked by the errant officials manning the embassy’s visa section and other vital units.
The documents include medical reports, Grama Niladhari and Police certificates, National Identity Cards (NICs), marriage certificates and other documents needed from local bodies and officials, they explained.
A senior police official told the Sunday Times that a complaint relating to a visa fraud with the alleged involvement of an employee had been received from the Italian embassy in October last year and that investigations were continuing.
According to the officials, visas that were passed over the desk included the category of Visit, Tourism, Business, Family Reunion and Employment.
The officials also said most of the individuals who received these visas had not been properly checked and it could lead to a security breach. “It has been found out that most of them initially arrive in Italy and then go mainly to Switzerland where they join relatives or friends,” one official said.
The life-style of these embassy officials involved in the alleged racket includes luxury houses, estates, mistresses, foreign and local travel, international schools, luxury vehicles and shops, he said.
“Also between them they have made more than 35 foreign trips that include cruises on the Mediterranean along with their families when their monthly salary at the embassy is only Rs. 60,000,” he said. The Italian Embassy’s deputy head, Mr. Milano, could not be reached for comment and there was no response email messages sent to him.