Students remanded in fake passports case

SEVEN Chinese students arrested early on Friday morning at Larnaca Airport as they allegedly tried to leave for London using fake Japanese passports have been remanded for four days as Larnaca police search for the source of the counterfeit documents.

New details released yesterday reveal that the passports were suspicious not only because there was no entry stamp for Cyprus, but also because the photographs did not resemble the individuals carrying them. Also, on questioning, one of the students was not able to give the first name listed on his passport.

The Larnaca CID investigator yesterday asked the court for an eight-day remand to allow extra time to locate the forger, a request denied by the judge.

Larnaca CID has sent the fake passports away for further examination while they pursue the investigation in both Nicosia and Larnaca.

One of the suspects is 35, while the rest range from 19 to 26 years old.

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.