Cablegate: Death of Us Citizen Impostor

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000971

SIPDIS

STATE FOR CA/OCS STEVE DONLON, DS/LEC, DS/ICI/PF

JOHANNESBURG FOR DHS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC ASEC
SUBJECT: DEATH OF US CITIZEN IMPOSTOR

REF: HARARE 000894

REFTEL REPORTED THE DEATH OF US CITIZEN WILLIAM TAYLOR
(DPOB: 27SEP1953; CHICAGO, IL) ON JUNE 15, 2005 IN BULAWAYO,
ZIMBABWE. POST HAS NOW CONFIRMED THAT THE DECEASED WAS
NOT/NOT WILLIAM TAYLOR AND NOT/NOT AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. POST
BELIEVES THE DECEASED MAY HAVE BEEN A CZECH CITIZEN NAMED
VLADIMIR SABL.

-------
Summary
-------

1. During the search for Mr. Taylor's next of kin, Consul
repeatedly encountered seeming inconsistencies between the
life of the man who lived and died as William Taylor (DPOB:
27Sep1953; Chicago, IL) in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe for the past
twelve years and the William Taylor whose passport
application was on file with the Department of State. For
example, despite having a 1951 Chicago birth certificate to
native-born American citizen parents and having never
applied for a US passport prior to 1992, friends and
associates of the deceased in Bulawayo uniformly told Consul
that he spoke fluent Czech, Polish and Spanish, spoke
English with a heavy Czech accent and that he had told them
he was born in Czechoslovakia.

2. Based on these inconsistencies and in close cooperation
with ARSO, Consul launched an investigation into the
citizenship of the man who died as William Taylor in
Bulawayo on June 15, 2005, hereafter referred to as
"DECEASED." After reviewing the following evidence, Consul
has reached the conclusion that the DECEASED was not/not
William Taylor or, in fact, an American citizen.

3. Consul believes that the DECEASED may have been a Czech
national named Vladimir Sabl(DPOB: 16Mar1951; Prague-Podoli,
Czechoslovakia) who had lived in the United States during
the late 80s and early 1990's and may have fraudulently
obtained US passport 029345064 in the name William Taylor in
1992. If this is true, the DECEASED may have faked his own
death in Prague in 1995 and gone into a partnership in a
gold-mining venture with his widow in Zimbabwe.

4. The following evidence was also reviewed with the local
Czech consul who concurs the above may be true and has
launched his own investigation and notified the Czech
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. End Summary.

-----------------------------------
Why the deceased wasn't Mr. Taylor.
-----------------------------------

5. The first and only US passport application in PIERS for
William Taylor was made at a US post office in Chicago, IL
in 1992. The identifying documents used to obtain the
passport were an Illinois driver's license (number
illegible) and a Cook County Birth Certificate (copy
available at post). The photo on the passport application is
believed to be that of the DECEASED.

6. Based on the initial clues of accent and language
ability, Consul and ARSO requested a Criminal History
Inquiry on William Taylor, using the date, place of birth
and Social Security number on his 1992 passport application.
The Diplomatic Security Law Enforcement Center (LEC)
promptly provided a criminal history for Mr. Taylor that
includes numerous arrests in multiple states (AZ, OR, NJ, NC
and NM) during the time that the deceased was living in
Zimbabwe without a valid US passport.

7. ARSO was able to locate a photo of William Taylor taken
by the Oregon DMV on January 31, 2000 that clearly shows a
different man than the one in the 1992 US passport
application and the DECEASED'S 1995 Zimbabwe Residency
Permit. Post has also requested a 1980 INS photo of Vladimir
Sabl to complete the comparison. As Consul was notified of
the DECEASED'S death ten days after the fact, she was not
able to visually ID the DECEASED. However, in every
interview with the DECEASED'S friends and colleagues, they
verified that the man they knew as William Taylor was the
one in the passport photo.

---------------------------------------
Why the deceased may have been Mr. Sabl
---------------------------------------

8. ARSO ran a credit history check of Vladimir Sabl which
indicates that in 1993 his home address was 7034 Cermak
Road, Berwyn, Il 60402. This address is about 3 miles from
5242 W 31st Street, Cicero, Il 60804, where William Taylor
was living with his mother, Julia Merritt Taylor, at the
same time.

9. DS LEC also ran a Criminal History Inquiry on Mr. Sabl
which revealed an arrest on immigration charges by INS
Chicago on October 24, 1980 for a visa overstay. This record
for A22683056 indicates that a fingerprint card and photo
are on file. Working with DHS Investigator in Johannesburg,
Consul has requested a copy of that file and photograph for
comparison to local photos of the deceased and arrest photos
of William Taylor.

10. After reviewing the DECEASED'S personal documents that
were found in the room he was renting in Bulawayo, Consul
discovered Czech-language records with certified English
translations that chronicled the life of a Czech man named
Vladimir Sabl. These include:

-Mr. Sabl's birth certificate;
-Mr. Sabl's August 25, 1972 marriage certificate to
Miloslava (Milena) Vestfalova (DPOB: 24May1952; Prague-Nove
Mesto, Czechoslovakia);
-Mr. Sabl's April 22, 1995 death certificate of a fatal lung
tumor in Prague.

11. These documents were found in a plastic folder that also
contained:

-a photocopy of William Taylor's US birth certificate;

-photocopy of the face page of William Taylor's US passport
029345064;

-a Zimbabwe residency permit in the name William Taylor(with
a photo of the DECEASED) from March 19, 1995 to March 19,
1997;

-a letter dated April 5, 2000 addressed to the U.S. Embassy
in Harare requesting a replacement for a stolen passport.
This letter lists the DECEASED's then-fiance, Sioneni
Mbedzi, as his contact person.

12. Among several hundred pages of personal and business
documents left by the DECEASED, Consul believes the
following may help explain who the DECEASED was and why he
would have followed this curious path:

-The DECEASED incorporated a company named S.A.B.L Travel
Consultants Ltd. In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on December 17, 1993.

-On June 13, 1995, Miloslava Vestfalova Sablova signed a
power of attorney document in Prague authorizing Mr. Petr
Jirousek (DOB: 15Nov1950) to "transfer shares of Vladimir
Sabl. at the company S.A.B.L. TRAVEL Consultants, Limited
and S.I.T. Foreign Trade/Private/Limited." A copy of this
document with a certified English-language translation was
found in the DECEASED'S files.

-On May 21, 1996 in Prague Petr Jirousek, Frantisek Pacholik
and Milena Sablova in "(their) capacity as directors of
S.A.B.L. Travel Consultants Limited and S.I.T. Foreign Trade
Limited" appointed "Mr. William Taylor born 27 September
1953 to represent S.A.B.L. Travel Consultants Limited and
S.I.T. Foreign Trade Limited" and "authorize(d) this person
to execute all necessary actions related to these
companies." This English-language Power of Attorney was
also found in the DECEASED'S possession.

-An Affidavit dated May 30, 1996 also found in the
deceased's records reports the following: "I, the
undersigned, Pavel Simek in my capacity sender of the mining
equipment shipment B/L Number ZW1566DE for SABL Trading
Company, addressed to Mr. William Taylor, 22 Wotton Cres.
Montrose Bulawayo Zimbabwe, hereby proclaim a mistake in the
company name which is rightfully S.I.T. Foreign Trade Ltd.
To Mr. William Taylor 22 Wotton Crescent Montrose Bulawayo
Zimbabwe, additional document: corrected copy of invoice."
This Affidavit lists a mailing address for Pavel Simek at
Nam. 17 Listopadu 295, 26102 Pribram V11, Czech Republic.
Attached to the Affidavit was a photocopy of a Government of
Zimbabwe-issued "Certificate of Exemption from Import/Sales
Tax and Surtax on Capital Goods" issued to S.I.T Foreign
Trade Ltd to 22 Wotton Close, Montrose, Bulawayo. This
Certificate of Exemption lists the goods to be imported as
"Foreign Assets, gold mining equipment from Pavel Simek"
with a value of USD 18,292.00. This Certificate was dated
July 3, 1996.
----------
Next Steps
----------

13. Consul has turned over all of the DECEASED's personal
documents, as well as the responsibility for notifying his
next of kin and handling his estate to her counterpart at
the Czech Embassy in Harare. Copies of all documents and
photos are contained in the Embassy file and can be scanned
and emailed for review.
14. Post requests Department guidance on how to proceed. Are
there any further measures necessary to document that the
DECEASED was not William Taylor?

15. In addition, post requests that DS/ICI/PF initiate an
investigation into how the DECEASED obtained Mr. Taylor's
identity. Please also provide guidance concerning fraud
committed by Vladimir Sabl, his widow, Milena Sablova, and
former business partners, Petr Jirousek, Pavel Simek and
Frantisek Pacholik, all of whom CCD indicates may have valid
US NIVs.

SCHULTZ

© Scoop Media