Six arrested for document forgery and fake money production

The directorate for combatting organized crime on November 19 detained 6 members of a crime group for production of falsified documents and counterfeit money.

At the beginning of 2019, the directorate for combatting organised crime obtained operational information on the activities of the group, which had been operating since the beginning of 2019 throughout the country.

The group prodiced false identity documents and false currency - 100 euro banknotes.

The group mebers were divided into two levels. One level was responsible for recruiting clients who wanted to obtain false identity documents or who wanted to buy counterfeit euro banknotes. The participants in the second level were responsible for the technical preparation of the forgeries. The group also included a person in charge of the final operations, namely the holograms and the laminating of false documents.

The group consisted of 6 people, including a man and a woman living in civil partnership and a father and his daughter. The members mostly communicated through their spouses who were fully aware of the criminal activities of the group. They were the couriers. The group produced false identity documents such as identity cards, international passports, driving licenses, marriage certificates, birth certificates and diplomas for primary, secondary and higher education from various universities.

The cost of issuing false identity documents varied depending on the quantity and quality ordered and the client's nationality. The clients were mainly citizens of Balkan countries - North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, as well as Arab and Asian nationals. The false documents were used in EU countries.

The workshop was set up in the yard of a car repair shop. The second workshop was at the home of one of the group mebers and he was detained while preparing false documents. False banknotes were found as well as false stamps of the traffic police units of all district directorates.

Siika Mileva, Spokesperson of the Specialised Prosecutor's Office: There was a price list, for example the preparation of an international passport and an ID card cost 600 BGN, a driving license - 300 BGN, a foreign driving license - 350 euros. The preparation of a fake diploma for primary education cost BGN 180, for secondary education - BGN 250, and for higher education it cost BGN 650.

Stoyan Temelakiev, Deputy Director of the directorate for combatting organized crime: In practice, the group provided and was able to produce false copy of almost any document that was offered by the state administration of the Republic of Bulgaria. Organisers of migrant trafficking channels also benefited from the “services”, if I may call it so.

The Prosecutor General's Office provided details of another investigation from an operation in Sofia last night targeting drug distribution. The prosecution revealed that a total of 16 people have already been indicted. More than 10 kg of drugs and over 240,000 BGN were found in the searches. The operatin was carried out at a time of a transaction.