Remand order issued against man for pretending to be someone else

Larnaca District Court issued a four-day remand order on Sunday against a 40-year-old from occupied Famagusta while they investigate cases of conspiracy to commit felony, forgery, circulation of false documents, impersonation and giving false information to a police officer.

The crimes were committed in December in Larnaca and in the occupied areas by three people, two Turkish Cypriots who have been arrested and a Turk who is still wanted by police.

The suspect appears to have helped the Turk have a Cyprus ID reissued, which he claimed to have lost, presenting himself as the wanted Turk.

According to the police, on December 27 the three people went to the Larnaca District Office to renew the Cyprus ID of the Turkish national where suspicions were raised and original documents, not copies, were asked for.

The three people then went to the Famagusta District Office, also in Larnaca, and applied there for the new ID card.

While there, an official realised that a paper from the occupies areas that the Turk presented was probably fake as it did not bear the stamp seen on original documents.

A further check in the state files showed that the person on record with the specific ID was not the person standing in front of officials.

Arrest warrants were issued against the three people and the two Turkish Cypriots were arrested the same day, while the Turk and one more person who brought them all into the Republic through Pyla were still being sought.

A remand order against the two Turkish Cypriots was issued during a previous appearance at Larnaca District Court, which expired on Friday.

One of the two men being sought was arrested at the beginning of the month and he said that the man who picked the others up in December had not crossed into the north. When he was arrested the suspect said he was a Turkish Cypriot but he had lost his ID card, which he had reported to the police.

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