Dismantling of national defrauding network of visa “Schengen” visas in Skikda

The investigating Judge at the Skikda Court of First Instance, remanded on Monday morning, six people aged between 25 and 38 years old, in temporary custody, on charges of forming a criminal ring involved in forgery and use of forged administrative and banking documents and certificates and of participating in widespread defrauding practices.

Among the defendants involved in  this quashed dangerous criminal network, stand private firms, employers, and employees, as well as dealers and contractors.

The dismantling of the gang came about after a series of security investigations, initiated by the units of the economic and financial services of the provincial judicial police of Skikda, which resulted in the rounding up of 06 people, including people previously convicted by justice in fraud cases and specialized in the use of forged administrative and banking documents destined to visa file applications.

Informed sources told “Echorouk” that investigations into the case were launched in the light of information and complaints from the French Consulate of Annaba, which pointed to the existence of fraud and gross irregularities in the visa application files deposited by a number of people wishing to secure a Schengen visa, adding that most of them hailed from the province of Skikda (eastern Algeria).

According to the same sources, the security investigations are still ongoing at the level of a number of places and spaces of the Internet cafés in Annaba province, in a bid to unravel all the intricacies of the affair.