Broker arrested over forged documents

A broker has been arrested after a police intervention linked him with the production of thousands of fake documents.
    
Medi Krasniqi, 47, British national of Albanian descent of Corbyn Street, Finsbury Park, is a broker who sold forged documents and certificates intended for people working within property construction.

He and the manufacturer he collaborated with -Arsene Meci, 26, of Western Road, East Finchley, - were arrested in the middle of a handover by National Crime Agency investigators who were watching the duo.

On the 15th December, both men pleaded guilty to conspiring to produce false identity documents and money laundering charges at Chelmsford Crown Court.

NCA Senior Investigating Officer Carl Eade described the pair as ‘go-to’ men for the service they provided. He said: “The thousands of passports, identity cards and other documents they were creating and selling were then used to help people obtain work or services they weren’t entitled to,”

“Worryingly, there is a safety element here too – one of the forms of ID they specialised in was certification to work in the construction industry.

“We have no way of knowing whether their clients were actually qualified to do the jobs they were then able to apply for.”

The men are the final pair of a North London forgery network to be convicted after a three-year investigation, which has already seen 15 convictions and over 56 years in jail sentences granted.

Among the trails of evidence uncovered were databases containing thousands of images of fake documents and images relating to around 20,000 individuals.

The pair await their sentencing hearing due to take place on the 12th January 2015.