Iranian man arrested with over 1,000 fake passports

[sabaii69]

This is an important arrest and another positive step in stopping Human Trafficking and most likely, terrorism.

Kudos tho Thailand for getting this done !!!

Now bring on the Thai bashing TV ... we can not WAIT for all your negative comments.

Very touchy. Hey, there are no Americans to bash but there will be a way

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed.

[sean in udon]

DSI had been investigating Gurat for two years before the arrest was made.

Sadly, because of the way things work here, my interpretation of this sentence is not very positive.

[Benmart]

Good job Police! Hopefully more big fish will be netted after the arrested culprit starts squealing.

[Guest]

All countries should heed this by making it almost impossible to forge Passports.

Well ... "almost impossible" won't cut it.

555 .. you did not "almost" beat me to it !!!

You did!

[Guest]

This is an important arrest and another positive step in stopping Human Trafficking and most likely, terrorism.

Kudos tho Thailand for getting this done !!!

Now bring on the Thai bashing TV ... we can not WAIT for all your negative comments.

Very touchy. Hey, there are no Americans to bash but there will be a way

I am American ... go for it.

[noddy77]

Well done!!

Over 1000 passports and hopefully he never has a personal use for another 1.

[Nielsk60]

And of course, no Thai involved? Believe that. And you will believe anything!

You are guessing as so many other negative persons on this site You know nothing, but that does not stop You comming with comments..

[neverdie]

Execute !

[lust]

having 1000 passports tells me that there's a reason for having such an amount. Business must be good.

[bernd1616]

This guy could be a network hub for global terrorists. It should motivate the Thais to launch a full scale investigation and shake him down for his Thai big men connections.

i don´t think he was working for the terror state usa with the terroristic goverment numer one in the world and as the biggest threat and danger for the free world

[Baerboxer]

Well, good for the DSI. Keep looking.

Perhaps you mean, good job Australia, Canada, USA, UK, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, and a few other EU countries.

Here's what happened. Every time the immigration authorities in countries detected the fakes they investigated. Information was shared and a pattern identified. Pressure was brought to bear on the Thai authorities to do something. Finally, something was done.

I wouldn't be too surprised if foreign intelligence operatives did all the leg work here with the Thai police watching and offering local support.

What a furtive imagination. You should consider writing fiction,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ah, but you already do.

[Anon999]

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Good thing they nailed him but what about the footer in the photo letting us know who is in the photo. What are Farang doing there Are they in the special investigative branch

Just a poor job of reporting but then again typical for a Thai

Likely embassy/consulate representatives from some of the countries the 1,053 forged passport represent...................

Agreed and some people are unable to read an article to the end and absorb the information that is clearly stated.

[Emster23]

For those who care to track current events, the implication that Iran as a state is sponsoring ISIS is a bit on absurd side. Iran has troops in Iraq/Syria fighting against ISIS (different sect and all). Of course individual Iranian could do it, but probably for the money, not the ideology.

[jpeg]

This guy could be a network hub for global terrorists. It should motivate the Thais to launch a full scale investigation and shake him down for his Thai big men connections.

[BlackJack]

to fall from such heights

its going to be an ugly life from now on

[Sviss Geez]

This guy could be a network hub for global terrorists. It should motivate the Thais to launch a full scale investigation and shake him down for his Thai big men connections.

Or for his Iranian "big men connections", of course.

Do you get eyestrain searching desperately for Thai-bashing opportunities?

[nahkit]

Thailand Arrests Iranian for Alleged Passport Forgery

Thai authorities announced the arrest of an Iranian on Wednesday who is allegedly the head of one of the largest passport forgery rings in Thailand. Police and the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) seized 1,053 stolen passports from 60 countries and forgery equipment during Sunday’s arrest.

Police apprehended Murel Gurat at a home in the Chonburi province. DSI had been investigating Gurat for two years before the arrest was made. According to Col. Songsak Raksaksakul, Gurat’s network had been working in Thailand for over a decade, and is linked to the Pakistani and Bangladeshi forgers Thai authorities arrested earlier.

Authorities stated that the group purchased, sold and forged passports for people who wanted to travel to a third country. Officials are primarily concerned about transnational and terrorism crimes.

Gurat, 45, may be facing up to 10 years in jail for multiple charges, including receiving stolen property and forging passports and stolen documents. Thai officials also stated that Gurat had a fake passport under the name Esrafil Bondar. Thus far, no attorney has stepped forward to represent Gurat.

This isn’t the first time Thailand has been in the spotlight for forged documents. Last year, two passengers on the vanished Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had boarded the aircraft with stolen passports from Thailand.

Police also arrested a 29-year-old Iranian man, Alireza Motevalli, at the Thai-Laotian border on Monday who was allegedly trying to cross the border with a fake passport. After searching Motevalli’s bag, authorities found the man’s Iranian passport. Motevalli confessed to hiring someone to obtain a fake passport in Thailand last month.

In addition to Motevalli, four Indian nationals were arrested on Sunday at Suvarnabhumi airport for trying to board the plane with forged Australian entry visas. The suspects confessed to purchasing the forged visas from a Thai man for 230,000 baht each. The men have been charged with using false documents.

-- © thaivisa.com 2015-03-19

Is the picture above a picture of one of the actual forged passports?

If so, it looks like they weren't very careful with their visa stamps as the Australian arrival visa dated the 31st Jan 2004 looks to have been stamped over the departure visa which occurred 10 months later on 6th November 2004.

Same with the Thai departure visa near the top of the right-hand page dated 16th January 2004, the purple ink looks like it overwrites the Australian visa on the left-hand page which is dated 7th May 2005.

[pegman]

If anyone ever doubted: Iran=State sponsored terrorism!!

Well done to the Thais to have got some of the bastards.

NuttyYahoo, is that you?

[Tomtomtom69]

Thailand Arrests Iranian for Alleged Passport Forgery

Thai authorities announced the arrest of an Iranian on Wednesday who is allegedly the head of one of the largest passport forgery rings in Thailand. Police and the Department of Special Investigations (DSI) seized 1,053 stolen passports from 60 countries and forgery equipment during Sunday’s arrest.

Police apprehended Murel Gurat at a home in the Chonburi province. DSI had been investigating Gurat for two years before the arrest was made. According to Col. Songsak Raksaksakul, Gurat’s network had been working in Thailand for over a decade, and is linked to the Pakistani and Bangladeshi forgers Thai authorities arrested earlier.

Authorities stated that the group purchased, sold and forged passports for people who wanted to travel to a third country. Officials are primarily concerned about transnational and terrorism crimes.

Gurat, 45, may be facing up to 10 years in jail for multiple charges, including receiving stolen property and forging passports and stolen documents. Thai officials also stated that Gurat had a fake passport under the name Esrafil Bondar. Thus far, no attorney has stepped forward to represent Gurat.

This isn’t the first time Thailand has been in the spotlight for forged documents. Last year, two passengers on the vanished Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 had boarded the aircraft with stolen passports from Thailand.

Police also arrested a 29-year-old Iranian man, Alireza Motevalli, at the Thai-Laotian border on Monday who was allegedly trying to cross the border with a fake passport. After searching Motevalli’s bag, authorities found the man’s Iranian passport. Motevalli confessed to hiring someone to obtain a fake passport in Thailand last month.

In addition to Motevalli, four Indian nationals were arrested on Sunday at Suvarnabhumi airport for trying to board the plane with forged Australian entry visas. The suspects confessed to purchasing the forged visas from a Thai man for 230,000 baht each. The men have been charged with using false documents.

-- © thaivisa.com 2015-03-19

Aren't all Australian visas electronic now? So why would someone be dumb enough to pay 230,000 Baht, which is like a deposit on a car here in Thailand or a cheap 10-year old second car for a useless visa sticker that doesn't correspond with the information in the airline's computer system and therefore the Aussie government? Dumb as rocks...

[cup-O-coffee]

WOW! Unbelievable!

[ChiangraiTony]

This is a big Feather in the cap of Thai officials putting a big crack in crime for human trafficking. Very good catch!

[geriatrickid]

Well, good for the DSI. Keep looking.

Perhaps you mean, good job Australia, Canada, USA, UK, Netherlands, Austria, Germany, and a few other EU countries.

Here's what happened. Every time the immigration authorities in countries detected the fakes they investigated. Information was shared and a pattern identified. Pressure was brought to bear on the Thai authorities to do something. Finally, something was done.

I wouldn't be too surprised if foreign intelligence operatives did all the leg work here with the Thai police watching and offering local support.

What a furtive imagination. You should consider writing fiction,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ah, but you already do.

You claim I am imagining the foreign government involvement. Ok. Then your version is that the foreign governments do nothing.

Most of the passports recovered were of European origin. If you don't think countries like the UK, Germany, Netherlands etc. investigate or attempt to track "stolen" or lost passports, you are wrong. They do.

The world is a much more interconnected place today then 10 years ago when the information gathering and sharing systems were not available. EU border agencies regularly share information on lost and stolen passports. Do you know what the FCC is? Do you? No? I didn't expect you would.

Australia, UK, USA, Canada and New Zealand have an enhanced agreement; information is shared with FCC partners for the purposes of maintaining secure borders and preserving the integrity of the immigration systems of participating governments. The FCC information that is shared may include fingerprints, digital facial photographs, date and reason biometrics were collected, full name (i.e., first, last, middle, nickname, and alias), date of birth, place of birth, citizenship, document identifier (e.g., document type, document number, and country of issuance current and historic whereabouts, and gender. In the event of an information match, two FCC partners (the requesting and providing countries) may further collaborate and review the match by exchanging additiona information allowable under applicable law to determine whether further action is required using other existing protocols (law enforcement or otherwise) between the countries.

This information sharing is used to track international terrorists, human traffickers, drug smugglers etc. The passport info is tracked in those countries where security is a priority.

[sfokevin]

This is a big Feather in the cap of Thai officials putting a big crack in crime for human trafficking. Very good catch!

This guy has been doing this for TEN years...

So as I said before... I wouldn't be handing out any medals for crack detective work...

[sfokevin]

That woman in blue with that unusually expensive hand bag looks like Yingluck?...

Shopping for a new passport?...

Edited March 19, 2015 by sfokevin

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

OH MA GAH! Good job, DSI. Their job seems to be up to par with professionalism after the new govt took over.

Before you totally get into another dimmension walk down Khao San road and ask for a forged passport. You can buy a bad fake for B 20 000 and a good one for B 200 k. This operation is run by Malay thugs with Thai's as the sellers. By taking out the Iranians the Malay operation will have less opposition. Google the subject and you will find a whole investigation was done on it by an Australian TV station about 2 or 3 years ago.

[pegman]

Mossad?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/canada/stories/recall100397.htm

[wmac]

As an Iranian I have never heared such a name in my life, not even a similar one. The name "Murel Gurat" is NOT an Iranian name by far.

[pegman]

As an Iranian I have never heared such a name in my life, not even a similar one. The name "Murel Gurat" is NOT an Iranian name by far.

Maybe Murel from "Gurat"

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurat

[pegman]

That is one big collection, good job

Big collections take time only 20 years for this man to be apprehended amazing he has survived this long! send him to guamtamo bay.

Dubya, that you?