Overview
- Erlangen investigators detained a 41-year-old partner and a 51-year-old intermediary, while the identified 47-year-old main suspect left Germany before arrest.
- The main suspect was given a suspended sentence in April 2024 for 48 counts of commercial document forgery and is accused of reactivating the operation through intermediaries.
- A coordinated nationwide raid in January 2025 seized extensive evidence and ready-to-collect fakes from homes, offices, and copy shops, with actions concentrated in Bavaria.
- Police say the network forged Meisterbriefe and exam certificates, language and knowledge tests for naturalization, security-industry credentials, and other professional qualifications.
- Buyers allegedly paid five-figure sums to run regulated salons and auto businesses or to obtain citizenship, with investigators estimating total proceeds in the six figures.