MAKKAH, 22 January 2007 — The anti-forgery division of the Passport Department arrested yesterday an Ethiopian man who was allegedly involved in the forgery of iqamas (resident permits). The man used forged stamps of the passport and police departments.
The arrest followed a tip-off from an undisclosed source.
The passport officials’ investigations revealed that the man was previously involved in other crimes. Following his arrest in a sting operation, the man confessed that he printed the iqama booklets at his hideout in the Hira district in Jeddah and sold them in Makkah.
None of his neighbors or friends in Jeddah suspected him of any criminal tendency. The police discovered seals of Makkah police, Umdah (mayor) of Briman district and a number of new but blank iqama booklets in addition to stickers and stamps for iqama renewal.
The police also seized three Ethiopian passports from him. They found with him a woman who was an Umrah overstayer.
He confessed to the passport officials that he used to forge documents such as introduction letters for seasonal workers during the Haj season besides other types of forgeries. The suspect told Arab News that he used to charge SR150 for the forgery of the renewal of an iqama while the rate for a new forged iqama was SR300.
