Brussels: Court translator charged with citizenship fraud

Brussels: Court translator charged with citizenship fraud

Patricia Jaspis, Brussels investigating magistrate, charged four men who for years had helped people get citizenship using fraudulent papers. Among those arrested is a 64 year old workers in the public prosecution, the Corelio papers and La Dernière Heure report.

Mustapha Z. (64) is seen as the key figure in the whole case. the man worked as a translator for the Brussels public prosecution and for the past few years also worked in the youth court. The facts of the case date from September.

The man in his 60s made extensive confessions. together with his three friends he recruited people who wanted to become Belgian but didn't deserve it, in the cafes around the Brussels South Station. The men set up naturalization files with forged documents. They provided self-manufactured school and marriage certificates and rent and work contracts in return for payment. The cost for such a fraudulent work contract: 4,000 euro.

The fraud has been going on for years on a large scale. Many hundreds of people might have gotten Belgian citizenship in this way in recent years. In addition to the court translator, three other men are suspected of counterfeiting document and using fraudulent documents. One of the four denies the charges. The other three more or less confessed. The four will appear in court in Brussels on Wednesday.

Several dozen people probably bought documents from the four suspects (Mohamed, Ahmed, Abdelkader and Mustafa) for 25 euro a piece. The purchasers of the certificates have not yet been identified. They could also be charged by the public prosecution.

Source: HLN (Dutch)

No comments: