Tuesday, December 13 2005 15:57 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dubai: Nine Indians were among 11 people arrested by UAE immigration authorities who busted a major visa scam in which victims were made to pay tens of thousands of rupees for forged documents.

During a series of raids, police have also recovered blank school certificates, university degree documents and Indian passports from the gang that also includes a Pakistani and a Sri Lankan woman, indicating that they were involved in forgery, a report in Gulf Today daily said.

The scam came to light when one of the network's victims, a Sharjah resident, filed a complaint saying he had responded to an advertisement in a prominent English-language newspaper in November and ended up paying Dhs 3,250 (around Rs 40,735) to a man who promised to furnish his brother an employment visa. The brother was on a visit visa.

Immigration authorities investigated, and arrested one of the men involved in the scam, and he led to another man who he said was the kingpin, and the trail continued until 11 people were arrested in less than 36 hours in raids conducted mainly in the Al Baraha area of Dubai, the daily said.

The forged school and university degrees and passports were found in an apartment where, apparently, a 'labour approval' document was also forged, it added.

The 'master forger', it turned out, is an expert in computerised imaging system. The forged labour approval even had a colour-coding which was also skilfully duplicated.

Further investigations and questioning led to the discovery that dozens of people were cheated by the gang with the same gimmick. They all had responded to advertisements and paid a minimum of Dhs 3,250 each, the Shajah-based daily said. Immigration authorities are questioning the suspects.