The Minister of Foreign Relations Hugo Tolentino Dipp said the Dominican government is investigating the Dominican consulate in Hong Kong after several Chinese citizens were uncovered arriving with fake visas. El Siglo reports on a US Embassy document that says an average of 40 Chinese citizens a month have entered the DR with fake documents over the past six months. Their goal is to reach the US. Each of the Chinese reportedly paid US$40-US$50,000 to travel from Taiwan to the DR and from here to US territory. El Siglo says that the documentation was issued through contacts in the Ministry of Interior and Police and the Department of Migration. By law, only the Ministry of Foreign Relations can issue the needed visas. A recent news story focused on the case of two Chinese who were deported by Migration after irregularities in their documents were discovered. The couple had come with an invitation from Grupo Fortuna Oriental. They were received in the ambassadors room of the Las Americas Airport and were given privileged treatment for supposedly being important investors. They were received at the airport by Michael Yuan Lu, president of Grupo Fortuna Oriental, and Babado Torres, legal advisor to the Ministry of Interior and Police.
