7 held in Italy visa fraud ring; 56 passports seized

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested seven members of an organised human trafficking syndicate accused of sending another woman to Italy using the visa and travel documents of a genuine passport holder.

The suspects were arrested during a raid in Dhaka's Gulshan-1 area on Monday by the CID's Human Trafficking Branch (THB), according to a CID press release issued on Tuesday.

During the operation, investigators seized 56 passports, 153 forged seals bearing the names of government, private and foreign institutions, an embossing seal, three CPUs, a laptop and 250,000 taka in cash.

According to the CID, the syndicate lured aspiring migrants with promises of Italian visas, collected large sums of money and unlawfully retained their passports.

In one case, a woman paid 440,000 taka in exchange for an Italian visa, only to discover at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport that another unidentified woman had already travelled to Italy on 24 April using her visa and passport details.

Investigators said the group used forged documents to substitute legitimate visa holders with other individuals, facilitating illegal migration while defrauding victims.

Preliminary investigations suggest the alleged ringleader, Belayet Hossain, has been involved in similar operations since 2016 and is suspected of sending around 30 people to Italy through fraudulent means. He is also out on bail in a similar case filed in 2024.

A case has been filed under the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Prevention and Suppression Act, 2026, as well as relevant sections of the Penal Code.

The CID said forensic examinations and financial investigations are under way to identify other members of the syndicate, its local and international collaborators, and additional victims.