{"id":3895,"date":"2019-09-28T13:46:42","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T13:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/ghana\/?p=3895"},"modified":"2019-09-28T13:46:42","modified_gmt":"2019-09-28T13:46:42","slug":"ghanaian-physician-jailed-in-us-over-passport-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ghanaian-physician-jailed-in-us-over-passport-fraud","title":{"rendered":"Ghanaian physician jailed in US over passport fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Ghanaian physician\u00a0residing in Fulton, Maryland\u00a0in the U.S. has been sentenced to\u00a015 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for the federal charge of passport fraud.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fifty-year-old Michael Na<\/strong>na Baako who\u00a0practised in hospitals in Maryland and maintained his own clinic, Biazo Healthcare, was sentenced by\u00a0U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow on Friday.<\/p>\n

According to Baako\u2019s plea agreement, since at least 2001, Baako and R.A.A. have lived together in Howard County, Maryland and are the parents of two minor children.<\/p>\n

Baako and R.A.A. married in Ghana in 1995. Months later, Baako entered the United States legally after obtaining a visitor\u2019s visa.\u00a0 In 1996, Baako applied for certification of his Ghanian medical education in the United States.<\/p>\n

In 1998, Baako married a U.S. citizen in Virginia, who filed a petition for Baako to become a naturalized United States citizen three weeks later.<\/p>\n

The petition was denied in 2000 after immigration officials concluded that Baako\u2019s marriage was a \u201csham\u201d marriage entered into for the sole purpose of obtaining immigration benefits. In 2001, Baako was licensed to practice in Maryland as a physician.<\/p>\n

On November 29, 2005, Baako registered to vote in Maryland, swearing that he was a United States citizen, and subsequently voted in 10 federal elections between November 7, 2006 and November 6, 2018.<\/p>\n

On December 15, 2006, Baako obtained a new Ghanaian passport in Accra, Ghana, as a Ghanaian national.<\/p>\n

On April 17, 2007, and September 16, 2009, respectively, Baako and R.A.A. submitted passport applications on behalf of their minor children, in which Baako falsely claimed that he was a citizen of the United States, born in Hillsborough, North Carolina.<\/p>\n

On April 22, 2008, Baako submitted an application for a United States passport for himself in which he falsely claimed that he was born in North Carolina, as were both of his parents.<\/p>\n

As part of his passport application, Baako provided an affidavit purporting to be from a family friend, falsely stating that this person was one of the first people to see Baako after his birth and was present at a subsequent naming and baptism ceremony for Baako at a Hillsborough, North Carolina church.<\/p>\n

Baako was issued a U.S. passport on April 29, 2008, which he used for international travel on several occasions. That passport included the false information that Baako was a citizen of the United States born in North Carolina.<\/p>\n

On July 31, 2012, Baako and R.A.A. submitted a passport renewal application on behalf of their first child, in which Baako falsely stated that he was a citizen of the United States.<\/p>\n

On February 20, 2018, Baako filed a passport renewal application for his own passport, again falsely stating that he was a U.S. citizen born in North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Baako was interviewed by Department of State officials on April 22, 2010, and on June 12, 2018.\u00a0In both interviews, Baako falsely stated that he was born in Hillsborough, North Carolina.<\/p>\n

On May 8, 2019, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Baako\u2019s home and located his Ghanaian passport and plans for the three-bedroom home Baako purchased in Accra, Ghana in August 2012.<\/p>\n

Investigators also obtained a number of documents related to Baako\u2019s ongoing efforts to fraudulently obtain documentation establishing that he was a U.S. citizen born in North Carolina, including a false affidavit purporting to be sworn by the Baako\u2019s mother, claiming that he was born in North Carolina; a page from the family Bible falsely stating it had been presented to Baako at his birth in North Carolina; a falsified baptism certificate purporting to be from a North Carolina church, certifying that Baako was born in North Carolina; and several draft petitions to the Circuit Court for Howard County seeking to fraudulently establish the fact of his birth in North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Baako has been detained since his arrest on May 8, 2019. As stated at Friday\u2019s hearing, the Department of Homeland Security has initiated removal proceedings against Baako.<\/p>\n

United States Attorney Robert K. Hur commended DSS for its work in the investigation.\u00a0Mr Hur thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary A. Myers and Daniel A. Loveland, who prosecuted the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Ghanaian physician\u00a0residing in Fulton, Maryland\u00a0in the U.S. has been sentenced to\u00a015 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for the federal charge of passport fraud. Fifty-year-old Michael Nana Baako who\u00a0practised in hospitals in Maryland and maintained his own clinic, Biazo Healthcare, was sentenced by\u00a0U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":3896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[2595,2596],"class_list":["post-3895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-ghanaian-physician","tag-us-over-passport-fraud"],"yoast_head":"\nGhanaian physician jailed in US over passport fraud - Ghana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Ghanaian physician\u00a0residing in Fulton, Maryland\u00a0in the U.S. has been sentenced to\u00a015 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for the federal charge of passport fraud.Fifty-year-old Michael Na\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ghanaian-physician-jailed-in-us-over-passport-fraud\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ghanaian physician jailed in US over passport fraud\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Ghanaian physician\u00a0residing in Fulton, Maryland\u00a0in the U.S. has been sentenced to\u00a015 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for the federal charge of passport fraud.Fifty-year-old Michael Na\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ghanaian-physician-jailed-in-us-over-passport-fraud\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ghana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-28T13:46:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ghana\/2019\/09\/703590448324_6211431520784-610x350.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"francis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"francis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ghanaian-physician-jailed-in-us-over-passport-fraud#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ghanaian-physician-jailed-in-us-over-passport-fraud\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"francis\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/#\/schema\/person\/3687592f7713dc6c826cf5bbd0e55bca\"},\"headline\":\"Ghanaian physician jailed in US over passport fraud\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-28T13:46:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ghanaian-physician-jailed-in-us-over-passport-fraud\"},\"wordCount\":685,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ghanaian-physician-jailed-in-us-over-passport-fraud#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/ghana\/2019\/09\/703590448324_6211431520784-610x350.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ghanaian physician\",\"US over passport fraud\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"miscellaneous\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ghanaian-physician-jailed-in-us-over-passport-fraud#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ghanaian-physician-jailed-in-us-over-passport-fraud\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/ghana\/all-news\/ghanaian-physician-jailed-in-us-over-passport-fraud\",\"name\":\"Ghanaian physician jailed in US over passport fraud - 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