Man arrested over alleged forged driver’s license scheme in north Cyprus

An individual has been remanded in custody for one day as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations that he forged and circulated a fake driver’s license in exchange for 21,000 TL.

Appearing before the court on charges of document forgery, circulating a forged document, and obtaining money through fraud, the suspect identified as  – MŞ, in June 2025, allegedly deceived one Muhammad Riaz, a resident of Başpınar in the Değirmenlik area, by promising to obtain a legal driver’s license for him in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). 

Police say MŞ collected 21,000 TL under false pretenses and then arranged with unidentified individuals in Turkey to produce a counterfeit license in the format of a Turkish driver’s license, but bearing the inscription of a TRNC driver’s permit. MŞ then allegedly handed over the fake license to Riaz.

Police confirmed that the forged license has been seized as evidence and that MŞ was subsequently taken into custody.

In his voluntary statement, MŞ reportedly claimed he arranged the fake license through a contact he met via a friend, and that communication with this individual took place through the WhatsApp messaging application.

The police informed the court that MŞ’s mobile phone and the counterfeit license would be examined as part of the investigation and that further witness statements needed to be collected. 

The police requested an initial one-day extension for the suspect’s detention.

After reviewing the testimony, the judge ordered that MŞ remain in custody for one more day to allow the investigation to proceed.