My office represents many of the foreigners who acquired Hungarian passports with fake data. Due to a recent nationalization programme, the Hungarian government made very easy by to obtain Hungarian citizenship.
This program was tailored for those who have Hungarian origins in the neighbouring countries, such as Ukraine, Romania and Slovakia.
Hungarian citizenship programme used for illegal purposes
However, this opportunity was in the end used by a group of criminals. These people „helped” mainly Ukrainian and Russian citizens to acquire false Hungarian papers. In many cases, these clients were cheated. The organisers made them believe that they are paying for a legitimate way of getting Hungarian nationality.
Nevertheless, for many of them it was clear that the nationalization was illegal. It was obvious as they obtained the passport for a fake name.
Corrupt government office workers helping entry to Schengen Area
Many employees of district government offices were part of the scheme helping the activity of the passport mafia. They prepared these ID-s and passports with real photos. However, the personal data in the papers belonged to other Hungarian citizens.
The point in most cases was to get entry to Schengen Area for those who would not, or not easily get Schengen Visa through legitimate channels.
Arrest warrants for Forgery of Public Documents
The above act constitutes forgery of public documents according Hungarian Criminal Law and it is punishable by a maximum of three years of imprisonment.
The suspects can find their names on the list of European and International Arrest Warrants published on the website of the Hungarian Police.
In case you need legal advice or representation regarding the above subject, please contact my office.