DUBAI // Three Pakistanis were sent to jail for using fake UAE residency papers to forge visit visas to Turkey.
The three were convicted of forgery, using forged documents and forging stamps of UAE banks which they denied in an earlier hearing.
One of them, who was found to be the mastermind of the scheme, was sentenced to three years in jail while the other two were sentenced to three months each.
Two of them were arrested when they presented the forgeries to the Turkish embassy. During questioning by police, they tipped off the authorities to the third person.
“We received a call from the Turkish embassy which held the two men until we arrived,” said an Emirati police officer.
Records showed the men charged visitors to the UAE Dh7,500 in return for each fake residency visa to help them get entry to Turkey.
“They used to meet customers in the street saying this way was safer for them,” said the officer.
Police found several fake bank stamps in the house of the third defendant. “He confessed he had been doing this as a business for a while,” added the officer.
The three told the court that they were provided with the forgeries by other men.
All three will be deported after serving their terms.
salamir@thenational.ae