Master Forger Arrested in Jeddah

Mahmoud Ahmad, Arab News

JEDDAH, 22 September 2004 — A master forger, described by police as one of the most dangerous criminals, has been arrested and hundreds of forged documents have been seized in a raid on his hideout, Al-Madinah newspaper reported.

The anti-forgery department in Makkah carried out the operation in which hundreds of documents — forged and waiting to be forged — and official seals of all description were seized. Police also confiscated passports of different countries, official seals of the heads of neighborhood offices and hospitals, marriage certificates, driving licenses and iqamas.

Police acted on a tip-off that a Somali resident, Abdi Mahdi Hanbo, was practicing large-scale forgery in Al-Sabeel neighborhood, south of Jeddah. After confirming the report and the identity of the counterfeiter police moved in for the kill.

When police searched his house, they found more than 1,000 forged documents and tens of other documents waiting to be faked. They found official seals of Somalia and its consular office in Jeddah and the Ethiopian Consulate as well as the Passports Department. Police also confiscated scores of passports of more than 10 countries.

Lt. Abdul Rahman Al-Ghamdi told Al-Madinah that the forger was arrested when he came to deliver a forged document to a suspected criminal in front of a gas store in south Jeddah. When police questioned the forger, he smiled and said he was not the only counterfeiter around.

Hanbo also said he was in the forgery business for many years. He was arrested a long time ago. After spending a year and a half in prison, he went back to the old profession in right earnest.

“I began expanding my operation and I had more customers. They are from different countries and their demands differ from getting a new iqama, forged seal on an official document or a new passport. Right now, I regret what I was doing. I lived in darkness and wasted my years in this bad profession. I promise that I will never return to this profession again.”