Student sentenced to 3 years in prison for impersonation

A young man who was arrested for impersonating an individual during traffic check in Lefkosa has been sentenced to three years in prison.

The decision against the defendant, O.M; a Congolese national was delivered by a judge at the Lefkosa criminal high court on Thursday Sept. 19.

The incident happened on August 13, 2017 in Lefkosa when the defendant introduced himself as someone else and presented fake identity documents to the police after being caught with drugs during a traffic stop.

Reading the court decision, the chief judge said the defendant was caught with drugs during a traffic check in 2017, introduced himself to the police as someone else, and while being placed on bail, he signed the case notification, court minutes and statement as if he were another person. 

The judge stated that the defendant went to the police in 2023 and declared handed over his real identity.

When the defendant gave his real passport to the police, it was revealed that he had been living illegally in the country since 2014.

The judge stated that the fact that the defendant, despite living illegally in the country, fearlessly introduced himself as someone else increased the seriousness of the crime and emphasized that it was unacceptable for people living in the country with work permits, students and illegal immigrants to submit false documents in order to mislead state authorities.

The judge noted that the crimes of preparing false documents, putting them into circulation, and inciting the preparation of false documents are serious crimes that carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, and that the way the crime was committed was also serious and severe.

The judge stated that they considered in his favor the fact that the defendant was 21 years old when he committed the crime, that he gave his real passport to the police in 2023 and admitted his crime, and that he has been detained in prison since September 2023.

The judge announced that, in light of all the facts, they sentenced the defendant to 3 years in prison for the cases for which he was convicted.

What happened?

The defendant was stopped for control purposes while driving in Lefkosia with a rental car on 13 August 2017.

A small amount of drugs were found in his vehicle. When the police demanded for his ID, he told the police that he did not have his passport with him. When the police obtained the rental car contract, the defendant introduced himself as one S.M, whose name was on the contract. 

He was then released on bail on September 1, 2017, gave the narcotics department the passport and ID issued in the name of S.M and left the narcotics department.

The police officer who obtained the documents determined in his investigation on September 2 that the person named S.M had left the country on June 21, 2017.

The police examined the passport and identity document that the defendant had submitted to the police in accordance with the warrant, and determined that the photographs belonged to the defendant but that the dates of birth were different, and therefore the documents were fake, and obtained an arrest warrant. However, the defendant could not be found despite all searches.

The defendant went to the police on September 4, 2023, gave his real identity and admitted his guilt.

As a result of the investigation, it was determined that the defendant had been living illegally in the country from 2014 until the day he was arrested.