Bogus crew

An Irish ship agent was asked by a crewing agent to look after the transfer of 8 crew from Dublin to London, where they would join a ship. This unusual request aroused the agent's suspicions and he contacted ITIC. Investigations by the Club revealed that the ship involved had been scrapped five months previously. Furthermore the Club had evidence that the Canadian Immigration authorities had issued a warning circular naming the crewing agent concerned as the culprit in using the same fraudulent crew scam to get illegal immigrants into Canada. The Irish ship agent was both prudent and fortunate; other agents have been left to maintain and repatriate as many as 20 illegal immigrants who have arrived in their country as "crew"for a non existent ship.