Elderly on trial for forging ‘application for maid visa’

The High Criminal Court has begun hearing the case of a 65-year-old man accused of forging an application to obtain a visa for a housemaid. The defendant, who is in detention, is said to have falsified the information he wrote in the application form, with an aim to register the maid under a different person. However, he was caught after an officer in the Passport Department contacted the victim’s son to notify him on some missing documents. 

“I received a call from the Passport Department and they requested me some documents for a maid application, although I didn’t apply for one,” the victim’s son told prosecutors. The latter headed to the Ministry of Labour to inquire on the details, according to Prosecutors. He was referred to the Labour Market Regulatory Authority and he discovered that his father’s fingerprints were forged. “I found out later that it was my father’s identity that was used for the registration. 

“The reason cited to bring her was my mother was sick and she needs a maid,” the son explained. An investigation was launched to probe the case and it concluded the involvement of the 65-year-old in the forgery. The accused allegedly hired the services of a clearance company and handed all the necessary documents to apply for the visa. The owner of the company told prosecutors that he didn’t cross-check the papers to ensure they were correct, stating that he was too busy and thought the 65-year-old was trustworthy. 

The latter, however, contradicted this statement, saying that he was asked to forge the fingerprint by the owner and he was paid for it, although he admitted he knew they were for forgery purposes.  

“I am jobless since 2001. I was working with the Ministry of Health but I lost my job. My financial situation is bad and clearance companies were using my fingerprint to falsify documents and I was paid for it,” the elderly man explained. The submitted papers include a fake salary certificate as well as a false marriage certificate though the accused was never married.