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They are: Luke Tyler (alias Wayne Miller), 49, a Jamaican described by police as “no longer in Canada”; Evgeni Eliash (alias Evgeni Rubin), 36, an Israeli who is in custody; Luis Cabrera (alias Luis Moyano), 54, of Uruguay, who is also “no longer in Canada”; and Srinivas Gottiparthi (alias Sushanth Goud) 38, of India, who is being detained. “These people were not from Canada and were not entitled to Canadian passports,” Sgt. Rollings said. They were charged with passport forgery.

The investigation began in March 2013 after CIC contacted the RCMP about suspicions an employee was processing fraudulent passport applications. Ms. Zeitoune was arrested Thursday and was being held in custody. She was to appear in court in Toronto on Friday.

She was put on leave without pay when the review began. If she is convicted, the government will take further action. “Corrective measures were taken to ensure that this type of compromise is no longer possible,” CIC spokeswoman Johanne Nadeau said.

Police are working with partner agencies in Canada and abroad to locate the remaining suspects. It was unclear whether they were Canadians or foreign nationals. “We anticipate other arrests,” said Sgt. Rollings, the RCMP spokesman for Ontario.

With the passports, criminals would have been able to live in Canada under fake identities and travel undetected, but the names on the documents are now likely on international watch lists, which would render them useless. There was no indication from police the case was related to terrorism.

“Criminals will go to great lengths to obtain fake or fraudulent passports to allow them the freedom to travel throughout the world,” said Sgt. Louie Casale of the Toronto West Serious and Organized Crime Team. “It is very important to maintain the reputation of the Canadian passport and the RCMP will diligently investigate those responsible for passport fraud.”

National Post

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