Sydney man accused of passport scam which netted $300,000 in a single day
A $300,000 passport fraud operation in Sydney has sparked a joint call for information on two men, after another was arrested in relation to the scheme.
Pollice allege the scheme netted about $300,000 in a single day from financial institutions with fraudulently altered Australian passports.
Officers working with the AFP and NSW police forces have appealed for information on another two men following the arrest on Monday.
Detective Superintendent Arthur Katsogiannis from State Crime Command’s Fraud and Cybercrime Squad Commander said there were two more in detectives' sights.
“As part of our ongoing inquiries, we have released images of two men we believe may be able to assist the investigation,” Det Supt Katsogiannis said.
“We urge the community to have a look at the images and contact us if they can provide any information to assist."
Police began investigating the alleged scam in October 2015 when they were alerted to a fraudulently altered passport being used in Sydney.
In November, detectives discovered an altered Indonesian passport at a bank in Sydney's CBD, leading investigators to discover that several bank accounts had been accessed using doctored Australian and Indonesian documents.
The Identity Security Strike Team arrested a 24-year-old man at about 7.30am on Monday in Hurstville.
He was charged with 12 counts of fraud and two counts of deal with identity information.
He was bailed to appear at at Sutherland Local Court in November 2016.
