First Daughter, Then Wife, Foil Gang Leader's Fake Passport Ring

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 19 July 2019)


                 "Hey, I'm just a travel industry disruptor."

An Iranian gang, whose members entered Turkey with residency
permits, had an elaborate system set up to make false passports but
the gang leader's daughter gave the game away when she filed a
complaint with police about her abusive father and mentioned his
"business dealings", as well.

In Bakırköy, Istanbul, M.E. (17) went to the police station on
Thursday, 11 July, and told police that "my father beats me and,
at the same time, he and his brother and their men are making
fake passports." (!)

Based on the girl's tip, police put the underage M.E. in foster care
and then raided two addresses in Bakırköy and Esenyurt, where a
search yielded 19 original passports (8 Israeli, 7 German, 3 Iranian
and 1 Norwegain), together with seals and other equipment for
making fake passports.


 The ideal sales force. Very customer-friendly and helpful-
looking.

Police determined that the original passports had been stolen or
that a "lost" declaration had been filed by the owner, and that they
had been purloined by a Iranian robbery gang operating in Europe. 
Bakırköy police took gang leader Tohid E. (39), his wife Maryam F.
(30), his brother Salim E. (37), Fırouz G. (36) and Mohammed M.
(48) into custody.

Tohid E.'s wife Maryam F. turned on him and told police everything,
explaining that the gang sold fake passports to Iranian and Afghan
refugees in Bakırköy and Esenyurt.  As for the original passports
in the gang's possession, buyers would be given esthetic operations
or make-up to help them resemble the person whose picture is in
the passport.  (!)

The gang had Iranian experts who entered Turkey as tourists do the
esthetic operations and coordination was established with a hotel
in Istanbul's Beyoğlu section.  According to Maryam F., her husband
Tohid E. earned 7-8,000 Euros per passport and had made nearly
500,000 Euros in 6 months.  300,000 Euros of this money was
deposited in the Iranian Central Bank.

Tohid E., his brother Salim E., Fırouz G. and Mohammed M. were
jailed and informant Maryam F. was released (looking over her
shoulder on the way out the door...)


    Seems like this area generates a lot of material for TNT.