In Magdeburg, investigators have discovered an alleged forgery workshop for ID cards. On Wednesday, about 220 officials searched three apartments and the workshop disguised as an office, as the Federal Police Department for Combating Crime announced on Thursday. They secured data carriers and counterfeit items such as printers, printing plates, seals, chemicals and foil elements. It was an action by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Frankfurt am Main, Central Office for Combating Internet Crime, and the Federal Police.

Three accused aged 23 to 24 years should be since June 2018 have offered falsified documents under the pseudonym “FakeID-Dobby” in the Darknet on marketplaces such as the 2019 excavated Wallstreet Market and the crimenetwork.co. The range therefore included recipes, temporary German ID cards and ID documents from Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. The three men are said to have made a profit of around 45. 000 euros . Most of the payments were made in the crypto currency Bitcoin.

Forgery of documents in 140 cases The two 24 year old main accused were brought to Hesse, where the arrest warrants issued against them by the Giessen District Court were announced to them on Thursday. According to the information, you are accused of forging a commercial document in 140 cases. The third accused, aged 23, is at large. According to the Federal Police, all three suspects with no previous conviction face several years’ imprisonment if convicted.

The arrests were preceded by ongoing investigations since 2019. The police did not explain how it was possible to uncover the identity of the suspects who were allegedly operating via the Darknet. Police chief Romy Töwe stated, according to the police report: “The alleged protection of identity through anonymity is being exploited by those involved to make prosecution more difficult. In the past, the police and judiciary authorities increased their digital skills in terms of personnel and technology. This procedure showed that these efforts pay off. ”

(axk)