A group trading in counterfeit EU passports and driver’s licenses exposed in Zakarpattia

Law enforcement officers in Zakarpattia Oblast have exposed three local residents who organized the illegal production and sale of counterfeit passports and driver’s licenses from Ukraine and European Union countries.

This was reported by the website of the Bureau of Economic Security (BES).

The counterfeit documents were sold both within Ukraine and to Ukrainian citizens living in EU countries. The scheme’s organizer was detained at the moment of handing over another batch of forgeries. Expert examinations confirmed that the documents did not match the specimens in official circulation.

During searches at the suspects’ places of residence, equipment and blank forms for producing forgeries with holographic security elements were seized.

All three Zakarpattia residents have been notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 199 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The court selected a preventive measure for the organizer in the form of pre-trial detention, with the alternative of posting bail in the amount of 99,800 hryvnias.

Operational support for the case is being provided by the SBU Directorate in Zakarpattia Oblast and the Zakarpattia Directorate of the Internal Security Department of the National Police, under the procedural supervision of the Zakarpattia Oblast Prosecutor’s Office.