Immigration staff arrested over passport scam for Syrians
09 Apr 2015, 7:10 PM
Ismail Humaam Hamid
Two Maldivians including an immigration officer have been arrested for helping nine Syrians to leave the Maldives on fake passports two days after they entered the country.
A 25-year-old immigration officer and a former colleague aged 29 were arrested for helping the Syrians, who were thought to be asylum seekers, to leave the country posing as Bulgarians, in exchange for cash.
The Syrians, who include three under-18s, were thought to be trying to reach Europe.
They were apprehended in Qatar after leaving the Maldives and have been sent back to Turkey, from where they started out, said police superintendent Hussain Rasheed in a press conference.
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