Warrant issued for arrest of man who used fake ID to open Limerick bank account

A BENCH warrant was issued for the arrest of a Pakistani national who attempted to open a bank account in Limerick by using a fake Bulgarian ID card which he bought for €7,000.

Muhammad Aslam, 39, who has an address at Nicholas Street, Limerick was prosecuted following a series of events which began in May 2017.

Giving evidence at Limerick District Court, Cathal Scully said he was working at the Limerick branch of KBC bank on May 26, 2017 when the defendant presented.

He said Mr Aslam filled out an application form to open a new  bank account and that he provided an electricity bill and a Bulgarian National ID card as proof of his identity and address.

Mr Scully told Inspector Ollie Kennedy that he followed standard procedure and sent scanned copies of all the documents to the anti-fraud department in Dublin for examination.

He confirmed that sometime later, he became aware that the application had been refused.

Ronan McGuckian, who works in the Financial Crime Unit at KBC, said the application and associated documents were referred to him and that he had performed a number of checks.

He said he was satisfied the Electric Ireland bill was genuine but that he determined there was a “high probability” the Bulgarian National ID card was a forgery.

“I formed the view there was a substantial risk he (Mr Aslam) had provided a forged document,” he said confirming that he had placed an alert on the internal system and that he later referred the matter to gardai.

Detective Garda John O’Connell told the court he was tasked with investigating the complaint and that he called to the defendant’s home May 16, 2018 have been granted a search warrant.

On arrival, he met Mr Aslam who produced a Bulgarian National ID to confirm who he was.

Det Garda O’Connell said this was same ID card that had been produced when he attempted to open the bank account a year earlier.

The defendant was arrested and during interview he told gardai he had paid €7,000 to a female solicitor for the Bulgarian National ID card.

He claimed he had used the card to travel to a number of countries including Italy, Germany and the UK.

He also informed gardai he had successfully applied for a Public Services Card from the Department of Social Protection here by producing the fake card.

Det Garda O’Connell confirmed Mr Aslam was issued a PSC but that it has since been cancelled.

Convicting the defendant, who was not present in court, Judge Brian O’Shea said he was satisfied he intended to induce Cathal Scully to accept the Bulgarian National ID card as being genuine.

“He knew it was false,” he said as he issued a bench warrant.