"In the course of the past few months, a large number of cases involving the counterfeiting of seals and documents of the government institutions have been referred to Sulaimani Court," an official from the Sulaimani court said. "Those charged include locals who have done their work with the help of people outside of Kurdistan."
Those arrested by police include government employees, Sarkawt Ahmed, spokesperson for Sulaimani Police told Rudaw, and "Kurds, Arabs and foreigners who have worked in different gangs."
One of the cases the court is now handling is the use of forged Sulaimani citizenship documents by a busted gang.
"Our department's seal, card... have been faked, and the case has been referred to court," Brig. Mohammed Saeed, head of Sulaimani‘s Citizenship Department said.
Most of the forgeries have been made for people who want to change their legal name or age, while others have been made for Arabs and Iranians who want to avoid the extra scrutiny they often face as non-Kurds at Kurdistan Region checkpoints.
"Most of the forgeries are made in Baghdad and in other countries," Saeed said.
Sulaimani Police have announced seals belonging to many other government institutions have been faked.
Counterfeit seals and documents from “the Sulaimani Citizenship Department, Sulaimani Traffic Department, official health permits, Information Card [a form of family ID], and even a butcher licence seal," the court official said.
"The latest person we arrested was a butcher who had forged the Sulaimani Butchery seal, using it in his butcher shop for animals he was slaughtering and selling. His customers never knew the seal was fake," Ahmed told Rudaw.
In a bid to stunt the growth of state document forgery, tough punishment is being levied on those charged, Ahmed added, in adherence to the Falsification of Official Documents sub-section of the Iraqi Penal Code.
According to the code, anyone charged with falsifying official documents faces a five year prison sentence, while anyone who knowingly uses a falsified document could face a 15 year jail sentence, Ahmed explained.
Kurdish officials have recently been conducting a wide crackdown on counterfeiting, arresting hundreds of people accused of making fake banknotes, car plates, and medications.
Last week Erbil Police announced they had seized a record number of counterfeit items in 2019.
"This year a record number of people numbering 305 persons have been arrested in Erbil on charges of counterfeiting official seals and government documents and correspondences," according to Erbil police spokesperson Hogir Aziz.
“The majority of them are Kurds,” he added, but also include “Europeans, Americans, Arabs, Turks, and Iranians, including three women."
Translation by Zhelwan Z. Wali
