The State Enterprise “Registru”, the agency responsible for issuing identity documents in Moldova, says biometric passports are impossible to forge. The statement comes in reaction to a press release issued by the Border Police earlier on Friday, which said a man had been caught trying to cross the border with a forged biometric passport.
Rather than being a case of document forgery, Registru says it's a case of identity theft.
“We reiterate that biometric passports have an increased level of security and cannot be forged, thanks to the embedded chip and the data it holds, which is impossible to modify or otherwise alter”, reads Registru's press release.
Registru further explained that the man arrested by the Border Police obtained by unlawful means identity documents of another person. In October 2014, following an internal probe, Registru discovered this fraud and canceled the validity of that person's identity documents. The case was forwarded to the Ialoveni Police to handle.
Arresting the offender at the border was possible thanks to Registru's online data system, the agency said.
Earlier on Friday the Border Police announced they arrested a 30-year-old man after he tried to cross the border with a fake biometric Moldovan passport, which he allegedly bought for 1,500 euros. The Border Police said they discovered that the document belonged to a different person and that the bio-data page had been apparently forged.
