A network manufacturing false identity documents in 20 departments was dismantled and three men were indicted and imprisoned Monday evening, we learned Tuesday from the Office for Combating Illicit Trafficking of Migrants ( Oltim).
Arrested a week ago in Marseille, Grenoble and Rosny-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis), the three men, a Frenchman and two Algerians in possession of several French identities, are being prosecuted for helping to stay in an organized gang, improperly providing and obtaining false documents.
The network made it possible, thanks to the creation of false birth certificates from around twenty different municipalities, to obtain real French documents.
Some of the
“clients”
had made up to eight requests for different identities.
Others, most often Algerians, could obtain an authentic French identity card, under a fictitious identity, according to the same source.
Investigations still ongoing
More than 75 cases of fraud have been detected throughout France by Oltim investigators, who estimate the counterfeiters' gains between 200,000 and 480,000 euros.
For 1,700 to 8,000 euros per person, they provided false documents, made appointments in the civil offices of small towns and provided the candidate with useful advice.
The investigation, which began nine months ago with a report in Anglet (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), then the opening of a judicial investigation in Bayonne, mobilized 34 police officers for the arrests, specialists in documentary fraud and cybercrime investigators. .
Investigations are still underway into cryptocurrency accounts held by the traffic organizers abroad, adds Oltim.