Woman claims Trini stole her identity

A young woman of the interior village of Bonhomme believes she is the victim of a passport scam masterminded by a Trinidadian.

Kayleen Thomas, a 30-year-old pre-school teacher, is being denied a passport by our Immigration Authorities and she remains adamant that she did not assist a Trinidadian woman in getting a Vincentian passport in Thomas’ name.

Thomas recalled that between May 2000 and 2001 her uncle introduced the woman to the family as his girlfriend and had her stay at their home for about two weeks. {{more}}

On May 17, when Thomas celebrated her birthday she said she told the woman, “Today is my birthday”.

“She asked me how old I am? She even kicks and said, ‘you so small for that age’. I never knew she was feeling me out,” said Thomas.

It is claimed that when the woman left she told the family that she was returning to Trinidad and Tobago.

Thomas’ dilemma started about a year or two later when an opportunity arose for her to travel overseas. The young woman claimed that she applied for a passport but was shocked when the Immigration Authorities told her that she already had a passport in her possession.

“I never had a passport before,” said Thomas, adding that in the past when she visited Trinidad and Barbados it was done using a permit.

“The Immigration had a photo and were saying that I had a passport. They show me the photo and the photo is not me. I recognized the photo as the same girl,” said Thomas.

Thomas said upon her own investigation through assistance by relatives living in Trinidad who were acquainted with the woman, it was discovered that the Trinidadian woman flew directly from St.Vincent and the Grenadines to Canada and had not returned to Trinidad and Tobago.

She said the information was relayed to the Immigration here, however the response was not positive.

“They told me to find the girl where she is in Canada because they can’t do nothing to that. They told me that I sell my passport,” said Thomas.

“One thing I will never do is sell my identity,” said Thomas.

Thomas is adamant that the Trinidadian fraudulently applied for and obtained a birth certificate in her name after receiving her birth date information. Thomas suspects that the woman then went on to apply for the passport using the birth certificate.

But Thomas is questioning, if that was the case how did the woman receive a passport in less than two weeks when at that time it took over a month to get one?

Thomas also believes that an employee of a photo studio who frequently visited the woman while she stayed at their home might have vital information about the scam that she alleges took place.

Efforts were made to have the matter addressed with the help of a lawyer but Thomas said the matter was not pursued all the way because it was quite costly to continue paying the lawyer at the time.

She is still hoping the matter can be redressed.

When contacted, Inspector Randolph Roberts at the Immigration Department advised that it would be best if Thomas filed a new report as he was unaware of the matter.

It is not a requirement for nationals of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to obtain visas to enter Canada, unlike some other CARICOM countries like Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Dominica, Belize, Jamaica, Haiti and Suriname.