Mexican consulate fires security guard, 2 employees for selling appointments that are free
.JPG "Mexican nationals with appointments await their turn to enter the facilities of the Consulate of Mexico in Fresno on August 25. The consulate this month fired a security guard and two employees involved in a appointments sales scam. Consulate is looking for additional victims.")
Two staff members at the Mexican Consulate in Fresno and a security guard were fired earlier this month after they were caught selling appointments to unsuspected Mexican nationals seeking to get passports or other legal documents.
The appointments, which are free, were being sold for $40 at the consulate located in north Fresno near Ingram and Herndon.
Head Consul Adriana González Carrillo does not have an exact number of people affected by the scam - which has gotten the attention of the Mexican Secretary for Exterior Affairs - but she encourages people to report if they believe they were scammed.
The Mexican Consulate “noticed a suspicious activity of the security guard who constantly moved near the entry door,” González Carrillo said.
González Carrillo said an investigation was launched “to check if there was something that we should attend to and that investigation was initiated by us at the Consulate of Mexico in Fresno.”
Later, as the consulate was reviewing what was happening, they found a complaint lodged on the consulate’s social media.
“Which gave us more elements to be able to specifically address a situation at the access door,” said González Carrillo, adding that they found that the security guard was asking for money to let people pass inside the consulate.
“And in collusion with two people, one who came from Mexico to work and the other who is a U.S. citizen, in collusion with the security guard, they altered the lists of people attended that day by the consulate,” said González Carrillo.
A review of the days’ final reports showed those numbers did not match the official appointment list, “but we did not know exactly what was happening” because the accomplices altered the list of people who visited the consulate each day.
.JPG "B ConsuladoMEX Fresno_8-25-21_MariaOrtiz-Briones (2).JPG")
González Carrillo said that the report includes people that the consulate receives without an appointment, people with emergency procedures, and older adults who can go to the consulate without an appointment to do their paperwork.
“There was a piece of data that jumped us for practically three weeks, at least three weeks,” González Carrillo said, adding that the internal investigation revealed that the guard spoke to people and asked them for payment to let them pass.
According to the written complaint that the consulate received, the guard charged $40 for letting in people who did not have an appointment.
“He was moving from his position to the parking lot which is a blind zone from our security cameras to solicit payments,” González Carrillo said. “We immediately removed the security guard from his position.”
The consulate asked the security company to remove the guard, which the company did. The evidence was sent to México.
Regarding the scheme of sale of appointments in the Consulate of Mexico in Fresno, Roberto Velasco, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in North America, said at an Aug. 19 press conference in México took immediate action to fire those involved.
The staff person from México will no longer work in a representation of México abroad, said Velasco.
According to Velasco, it is the only appointment scam detected at the Mexican Consulate in Fresno.
The foreign ministry constantly monitors appointments, particularly in the 10 consulates with the highest demand for services, to look for such scams, he said.
The security company has sent two new guards, who are now being monitored to make sure there is no repeat.
She said that the best way to get the information of a complaint about this scam is by inbox message on the Facebook page of the consulate @consulmexfresno which is constantly reviewed by the staff.
They can also send an email through the ConsulMex Fresno website or directly to her email at adrianagc@sre.gob.mx.
“The more evidence we have of this situation, the more elements I have to be able to proceed legally,” said González Carrillo. “Today our lawyer Bob Pérez, the consulate’s lawyer, will come and I will make this explicit consultation on what else we can do to make it a lesson that allows us to prevent a situation like this from happening again at the Mexican Consulate in Fresno.”
González Carrillo said that the security cameras helped to corroborate the movements of the guard including how people waited for instructions from the guard and which were not checked by the guard when they entered the consulate facilities like other people.
“The government of Mexico has zero tolerance for corruption and that is why these people have been separated from their job positions, ” said González Carrillo.
Although this incident took place within the consulate itself, González Carrillo said that a great concern is that there are many people outside the consulate selling appointments to fellow citizens.
“Appointments are free. We are opening more than 1,500 appointments a week. Both with the mobile consulate and at our main office. And these appointments are free, ”González Carrillo reiterated.
Mónica Regland, a resident of the city of Corcoran and originally from Ensenada, Baja California, México, was at the consulate on Aug. 25 to process her passport for the first time.
“I was calling almost every day because they told me they had no appointments available,” said Regland, who made her appointment by phone through Mexitel.
She called morning and afternoon before finally getting her appointment.
Regland said that she has previously visited the consulate at least three times to renew her consular ID and has never had a problem getting appointments.
González Carrillo said that every Wednesday from 1 p.m. on the Facebook page @ConsulMexFresno, they make public the time the appointments are opened, as well as the number of appointments available during that week.
People can also call 1 (877) 639-4835 or online https://mexitel.sre.gob.mx/
Esta historia fue publicada originalmente el 25 de agosto de 2021, 5:16 p. m..
