Fake “clergymen” caught traveling to Cuba

A pair of south Floridians pleaded guilty after posing as religious leaders in order to fly to and from Cuba. Aside from traveling under false pretenses, the U.S. government accused Victor Vazquez and David Margolis of making nearly $1 million by selling fake travel visas.

According to MiamiHerald.com, the defendants had a sort of missionary work in mind during their trips to the island (double entendre intended):

“Vazquez, who is living under house arrest with his mother in Delray Beach, got married last year to a young Cuban woman who is trying to come to the United States, court records show.

''He became an additional member of our family. To such an extent that on the day he proposed marriage, neither I or my family hesitated in accepting,'' his bride, Dayana Betancourt Mojena, 21, wrote in a letter to the federal judge presiding over the case.

Margolis, a Fort Lauderdale real estate mogul with serious heart problems, made arrangements for his Cuban girlfriend to come to South Florida in September.”

Religious travel licenses are one of the few travel exceptions allowed under the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Yet some religious groups are disappointed with recent restrictions enacted by the Bush administration against humanitarian work on the island.

Last August, presidential hopeful Barack Obama called on easing travel restrictions on Cuba.

Sources- UPI, MiamiHerald.com, Find Articles, NPR, The Latin Americanist

Image- kbears.com