Pakistan is world leader in visa fraud business: British High Commissioner
Adam Thomson says fraud and forgery are very strong industries in Pakistan.
"Pakistan is a world leader in the visa fraud business which is why we have to check very scrupulously every single application, every single passport, every single document," British High Commissioner to Pakistan Adam Thomson said in a news conference according to The Telegraph.
The high commissioner was also quoted as saying that the UK visa officials had spotted as many as 4000 fake documents submitted by Pakistanis seeking travel documents last year.
The British High Commissioner was talking about recent fake passport scam claim made by the British tabloid The Sun. According to the claim, the paper had broken into a crime ring which was issuing fake passports and visas, giving potential terrorists a chance to sneak into London Olympics 2012.
When questioned multiple times about the visa scam during an Olympics-related press conference, Thomson said that “fraud and forgery were very strong industries in Pakistan.”
The British High Commission had earlier on Friday released its report in the visa scam, claiming that The Sun’s agent Ali Asad had successfully attained a 'fake passport' in Pakistan to sneak into Britain along with Pakistan’s Olympic delegation.
However, investigation into the matter by Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) found that no fraud or illegal act was committed while issuing the Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) and passport to The Sun investigator as claimed by the tabloid.
Nadra in fact claimed that Ali had legally updated and renewed his CNIC's but had entered false information on his UK passport.
The high commissioner was also quoted as saying that the UK visa officials had spotted as many as 4000 fake documents submitted by Pakistanis seeking travel documents last year.
The British High Commissioner was talking about recent fake passport scam claim made by the British tabloid The Sun. According to the claim, the paper had broken into a crime ring which was issuing fake passports and visas, giving potential terrorists a chance to sneak into London Olympics 2012.
When questioned multiple times about the visa scam during an Olympics-related press conference, Thomson said that “fraud and forgery were very strong industries in Pakistan.”
The British High Commission had earlier on Friday released its report in the visa scam, claiming that The Sun’s agent Ali Asad had successfully attained a 'fake passport' in Pakistan to sneak into Britain along with Pakistan’s Olympic delegation.
However, investigation into the matter by Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) found that no fraud or illegal act was committed while issuing the Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) and passport to The Sun investigator as claimed by the tabloid.
Nadra in fact claimed that Ali had legally updated and renewed his CNIC's but had entered false information on his UK passport.