..and the Govt. believes it can successfully authenticate each and every refugee they'll allow in the country. I'm pretty positive the IS can afford to cough up for some authentic passports for the men it's going to be sneaking in here.
U.S. Agents in Greece Expose Syrian Who Sold Passports Thinking They Were for ISIS
by Richard Engel and Aggelos Petropoulos
"ATHENS — An NBC News investigation has uncovered that a Greece-based document forger — who sold American passports to a U.S. agent after being told they were meant for ISIS — will not be extradited to America anytime soon, since he was not promptly arrested despite a nine-month-long investigation by the Department of Homeland Security.
Speaking to NBC News from inside a Greek prison, Haytham Koubash denied that he forged the passports himself but acknowledged facilitating the sale.
"It's my work," he said, "I don't ask anybody for who or what they want to do with the passports."
For U.S. authorities, it all began in October 2014 when, according to a federal agent's sworn affidavit, DHS investigators received a tip from two informants who claimed that the 46-year-old Syrian, Koubash, was selling doctored American and European passports in Athens.
During recorded telephone conversations with the informants, the agent says in the affidavit, Koubash agreed to sell. A passport — later proved to be a legitimate U.S. passport reported stolen in Athens a few weeks earlier — was delivered to the agents for $5000 by mid-December 2014.
It was time to up the ante: in subsequent calls the agents had the informants tell Koubash they need more passports, this time for ISIS.
During the meeting, according to the same affidavit, a U.S. agent provided four passport photographs of what he explained to be members of ISIS and a deposit of 5000 euros (about $5,500). Koubash asked for some time.
"About one week to five days," Koubash explained to NBC News, is the time needed in Athens to acquire a stolen U.S. passport and have its photo altered.
He also said U.S. passports are on the lower end of the market with their price ranging from 250 to 350 euros, as they are not for everyone: A perspective buyer needs to have a good American accent to get away with them.
Five days later, Koubash met the agent again, this time in front of Greece's parliament. The surveillance stills obtained by NBC News show him wearing a red shirt while, according to court documents, he delivered four doctored U.S. passports.
"Do you know, these passports are for ISIS," Koubash says the agent asked him not once, but three times during a 20-minute conversation. He subsequently received 5000 euros as final payment and walked away from the meeting.
According to legal documents obtained by NBC News, the U.S. authorities were planning to have Koubash arrested at a third meeting that never happened. Not knowing this, a separate law enforcement agency in Athens, the Immigration Directorate of the Greek police, was already tailing him..."
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/u-s-agents-greece-expose-syrian-who-sold-passports-thinking-n477421
U.S. Agents in Greece Expose Syrian Who Sold Passports Thinking They Were for ISIS
by Richard Engel and Aggelos Petropoulos
"ATHENS — An NBC News investigation has uncovered that a Greece-based document forger — who sold American passports to a U.S. agent after being told they were meant for ISIS — will not be extradited to America anytime soon, since he was not promptly arrested despite a nine-month-long investigation by the Department of Homeland Security.
Speaking to NBC News from inside a Greek prison, Haytham Koubash denied that he forged the passports himself but acknowledged facilitating the sale.
"It's my work," he said, "I don't ask anybody for who or what they want to do with the passports."
For U.S. authorities, it all began in October 2014 when, according to a federal agent's sworn affidavit, DHS investigators received a tip from two informants who claimed that the 46-year-old Syrian, Koubash, was selling doctored American and European passports in Athens.
During recorded telephone conversations with the informants, the agent says in the affidavit, Koubash agreed to sell. A passport — later proved to be a legitimate U.S. passport reported stolen in Athens a few weeks earlier — was delivered to the agents for $5000 by mid-December 2014.
It was time to up the ante: in subsequent calls the agents had the informants tell Koubash they need more passports, this time for ISIS.
During the meeting, according to the same affidavit, a U.S. agent provided four passport photographs of what he explained to be members of ISIS and a deposit of 5000 euros (about $5,500). Koubash asked for some time.
"About one week to five days," Koubash explained to NBC News, is the time needed in Athens to acquire a stolen U.S. passport and have its photo altered.
He also said U.S. passports are on the lower end of the market with their price ranging from 250 to 350 euros, as they are not for everyone: A perspective buyer needs to have a good American accent to get away with them.
Five days later, Koubash met the agent again, this time in front of Greece's parliament. The surveillance stills obtained by NBC News show him wearing a red shirt while, according to court documents, he delivered four doctored U.S. passports.
"Do you know, these passports are for ISIS," Koubash says the agent asked him not once, but three times during a 20-minute conversation. He subsequently received 5000 euros as final payment and walked away from the meeting.
According to legal documents obtained by NBC News, the U.S. authorities were planning to have Koubash arrested at a third meeting that never happened. Not knowing this, a separate law enforcement agency in Athens, the Immigration Directorate of the Greek police, was already tailing him..."
https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/u-s-agents-greece-expose-syrian-who-sold-passports-thinking-n477421
