A German court has sentenced an immigration officer to prison for accepting bribes in exchange for issuing fraudulent residence and citizenship documents.
As reported by Bild, the Lüneburg Regional Court ruled on Tuesday that the officer from the district of Lüchow-Dannenberg in Lower Saxony illegally issued permanent residence permits, settlement papers, and naturalizations to foreigners in at least 16 cases between January 2022 and July 2023, in return for cash payments.
Among those who obtained papers were individuals from Turkey, Georgia, Albania, and several Arab countries. Many had presented forged residence documents from other EU states, such as Greece, when applying for legal status in Germany. In some cases, requirements such as language proficiency certificates were waived.
The court found that the official became known for his ability to process cases “without complications,” a reputation that spread across the country, according to a district councilor. He was consequently jailed for six and a half years.
The scheme involved a co-defendant, 32-year-old Kastriot G., who knew the official from a local football club. He acted as an intermediary, arranging “customer orders” for the fraudulent documents. Kastriot G. was sentenced to nine years in prison, with his term including a previous conviction for kidnapping for ransom.
The court stated that both men had received around €154,000 from their dealings, which they are now required to repay in full. Both defendants partially admitted the charges, though they did not fully confess.
“They were only interested in the money; they wanted to split the proceeds equally,” said presiding judge Christoph Paglotke, according to the German press agency dpa.
The verdict is not yet final and can still be appealed.
Illegal immigration means big money for some, and fraudulent activity has been known to occur in several European member states.
In February, Spanish police uncovered a criminal network arranging sham marriages between Spanish women and foreign men seeking residency. Three people, including a lawyer, were arrested for their involvement in the scheme, which charged around €10,000 per client.
In October 2021, Domenico Lucano, the former Italian mayor of Riace, was sentenced to 13 years and two months in prison after being found guilty of aiding and abetting illegal migration, abuse of office, criminal association, conspiracy, fraud against the State, embezzlement, and extortion.
In July last year, German prosecutors opened investigations into several allegations of German embassy and consulate staff facilitating the transfer to Germany of individuals on false documents.
And in January of this year, a French civil servant from the foreigners’ admission service in Nancy was referred to the public prosecutor’s office to face allegations of corruption and fraud after being accused of facilitating the stay of illegal migrants in exchange for cash.
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