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| Europe |
| Excellent False Passports Sold in Polish Marketplace |
| 2004-04-02 |
| AN undercover Sun reporter has exposed just how easy it is to get a false east European passport and exploit the Governmentâs shambolic immigration system. Our man was able to buy a forged Polish passport with a false name in a bustling Warsaw street market for just £800. He was also able to buy a picture ID card in his own name for £330. The Home Office last night confirmed that from May 1 â when Poland and nine other nations join the EU â either document will allow entry to Britain. Similar fake credentials could be used by illegal immigrants from non-EU countries . . . as well as terrorists or big-time criminals. A tip-off from a contact in the Polish underworld led us to Rozyckiego Market, a vipersâ nest of criminality in the centre of Polish capital Warsaw. Within seconds of entering the collection of rickety wooden and corrugated iron stalls we were approached by an unshaven man in a leather jacket. Through a translator, the man, with black moustache and baseball cap, offered our reporter a Polish ID card. The man boasted: âYou can have it in whatever name you like. You will be able to travel all over Europe with it. It will be a perfect fake. You can pick it up tomorrow.â Then, as other shoppers strolled by, we were ushered behind a flower stall out of sight of the busy street. Our man was then introduced to another gang member, an overweight, bald man in his fifties. He asked through the translator for our reporterâs height, hair and eye colour. He agreed to provide an ID card in the name Oliver Harvey. Our man handed over a passport picture and 300 US dollars (£165) up front. Returning two days later, he picked up the picture ID, a brilliant fake which also gave our reporter a false address in Warsaw. It also gave the city as his place of birth and a made-up name for his father. The green-fronted card, number DX1258874, came complete with official government stamps and watermarks. We paid a further £165 in US dollars for the ID and shook hands. The bald man then said through our translator: âWe trust you now. Why donât you buy a passport? We have Polish and Austrian, but Austrian is more expensive. You can have any name you like but why donât you let us make up a Polish identity for you? Border guards will simply look at your passport and wave you through.â His pal said: âPeople travel to Britain and throughout Europe on our passports. We will create a new identity for you, no problem.â After quoting $2,000, around £1,100, our man bartered the price down to £800. As we struck the deal another man, of central Asian origin, arrived to collect HIS false passport. The racketeer proudly showed the fake to our reporter who, judging the papers a good copy, handed over a £500 down payment in US dollars. Our reporter now had the false name of Andrzej Miler, false date of birth March 28, 1968, and passport number BM3196643. When we compared our version with a legitimate Polish passport, there was no obvious difference. One local said: âThis market is like a passport consulate. As well as passports and ID cards, you can get driving licences and degrees.â In four weeks Poland will be the EUâs eastern frontier. Mafia gangs have already established the nation as a people-smuggling staging post en-route to Britain and the West. Around 50,000 illegals from as far afield as China, Afghanistan and Somalia were stopped trying to cross Polandâs borders last year. Almost 10,000 forged passports and other ID documents were discovered at British ports in 2002, the latest year for which figures are available â an increase of 46 per cent on 2001. But an unknown number of illegals with false papers make it into Britain each year. Forged passports are commonly used by terrorists to slip in and out of countries undetected. Two al-Qaeda terrorists, jailed in Britain in 2003, were discovered with hundreds of false travel documents. .... The false documents we bought in Poland were examined by a counterfeit passport expert . . . who passed them with flying colours. The London-based specialist, unnamed because he helps investigations involving terrorists and organised crime, subjected the documents to vigorous forensic tests. He concluded in a written report: âBoth documents would be accepted as genuine in a variety of scenarios. After Polandâs accession to the EU, the passport is likely to be accepted in all EU countries. âThis is particularly the case where they are not physically examined but merely accepted âon the nodâ as the holder passes through the control holding the photo page open, as in the UK.â Once in Britain the passport could be used for a string of criminal and black market activities. The specialist added: âYou could use the passport to open a bank account, get a credit card, get a job and cash cheques.â But he said the fakes are not perfect. And the passport could be rumbled if a Customs man decided to look closely at it. He added: âI would not expect an immigration officer to accept the passport if it is subjected to any kind of physical examination. âHaving said that, if there were travel stamps and visas in the passport, it might be enough to put the officer off asking too many questions.â A gang netted more than £1million by sticking immigrantsâ pictures into genuine British passports. In 14 months up to 500 illegals were waved through at British airports and ferry terminals. Three of the gang â Britons Robert Walkden, 31, Mohammed Jamil, 32, and Khalid Mahmood, 31 â were jailed for six years each in Bradford yesterday. They charged £2,000 to escort the Asian migrants from Europe into Britain, sticking their photos into genuine passports believed to have been bought from British citizens. Detective Constable Peter Thornton, who led the inquiry, said: âThe fact is if you are in the queue for people with British passports, the chances are you wonât be stopped.â |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #3 Yeah right. This reporter should ask for a refund. First of all, the last name on the passport should be 'Miller' not 'Miler', even though they are pronounced the same way in Polish. An easy mistake for a dumbass forger to make (and even dumber reporter). With a sharp border guard this should immediately raise a flag. Secondly, these passports are being phased out. Hopefully the newer version has better security, and will most likely conform to EU standards. Lastly, this would only be a problem where border guards allow people through "on the nod". Even at the Warsaw airport, when you cross the border upon arrival, the border guard puts the passport through a scanner. I've never seen what the guard is looking at, but assumingly it's a database of personal info. This article is just fear-mongering. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-04-02 1:58:30 PM |
| #2 This explains why the US has not lifted visa restrictions on travel from Poland despite their help in Iraq and the WOT. The Polish government can bitch all they want, but those restrictions need to be kept in place until Poland cleans up this problem. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-04-02 8:46:12 AM |
| #1 You will note that the Mob don't deal in Euros. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-02 8:32:21 AM |