The three suspects collectively owned four companies licenced by the government to recruit foreign workers. Sixteen fake seals of various government institutions were discovered in their possession when they were arrested in August.
"[The Ministry of the Interior's] Directorate of Combating Human Trafficking informed us that they had seized a seal belonging to our department from a company in Erbil," Karzan Ali, head of Erbil's Labor Department, told Rudaw on Monday. "After follow-ups, it turned out that the company had counterfeited our seal."
"Those who had counterfeited our seal were two brothers and a nephew who own four companies. One of the companies is connected to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the other three have been licensed by the Ministry of the Interior," Ali explained.
"They were arrested by the combating of human trafficking department and confessed their crimes,” he added. "They have confessed that they were able to carry out their visa transactions for dozens of foreign workers and issue residency work permits to them."
The police have concluded their investigation into the case and a trial is expected to begin shortly, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.
The fake seals, used to authenticate paperwork, had been made by someone outside the Kurdistan Region, the suspects admitted during the investigation, according to Ali.
"Not just seals, they had even counterfeited official documents and papers, issuing them in the name of the government to run their affairs," Ali said. He declined to name the companies accused of involvement in the scheme, saying the case has been referred to court.
The majority of the foreign workers who were brought into the Kurdistan Region by the three accused are working in private households. "If they do not have a problem here, we will renew their permits, if not we will deport them,” said Ali.
The recruitment agency is located in Erbil’s Ainkawa neighbourhood, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. "Many residence permits have been issued and visas granted through the counterfeit seals and documents the company had done," the source said.
The KRG has recently cracked down on counterfeiting, arresting hundreds of people accused of making fake banknotes, car plates, and medications. Police in Erbil seized a record number of counterfeit items in 2019, according to police spokesperson Hogir Aziz.
"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," Aziz said. “The majority of them are Kurds,” he added, but also include “Europeans, Americans, Arabs, Turks, and Iranians, including three women."
"The bulk of the counterfeits were passports, ID cards, letters of attorney for the sale of property and purchase of vehicles, and lastly banknotes," he said.
The KRG passed a law criminalizing human trafficking in 2018 and this year established the Directorate of Combating Human Trafficking to tackle the growing problem. Read more here about human trafficking in the Kurdistan Region.
