Arrests Made

French police have arrested a group of eight people, including two working in the provinces, on suspicion of being involved in large-scale document forgery operations in France by providing hundreds of illegal immigrants with forged identity documents that were issued in collaboration with corrupt civil servants working in the central province.

Investigation

For a whole year, a team of specialized investigators in Paris continued to hunt down the suspects. After a thorough investigation, the group was able to locate the members of the network and arrested seven men and a woman, aged between 21 and 55. They were charged with “using forged documents”, “falsifying administrative documents”, “facilitating the illegal entry of foreigners and facilitating their stay in France”.

Forged Documents

According to the police, the group was able, thanks to its advanced special equipment, to issue fake certificates not only for French papers, but also for other European countries, including: the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Lithuania, Croatia, Italy and Poland.

The defendants charged an amount of approximately 15,000 euros (paid in cash only) from each Irregular, asking them to obtain forged documents authorizing him to live in France. Other forged documents were made with a high degree of accuracy, which is rare in France.

International Involvement

The investigation revealed that there was another group in Turkey that was involved in forgery operations in the early stages and then sent the forged documents back to France by plain postal parcels.

Seized Equipment and Money

The police found modern laser printers, computers, ink cartridges, blank plastic cards and fake IDs in large quantities in the group, and more than 110,000 euros in cash were found in the homes of the group members looking for security services.

Impact on French Authorities

There is no doubt that the presence of corrupt elements in any security apparatus, especially as regards the forgery of identity documents, is a serious problem that puts a burden on the French authorities, who have been suffering for years from terrorism, human trafficking and the Illegal Immigrant Crisis.