Romania indicts 16 Russians over forged citizenship certificates and identity documents

The General Prosecutor’s Office announced on Monday, October 12, that it indicted 16 Russians for using forged citizenship certificates to obtain Romanian identity documents.

The defendants, citizens of the Russian Federation, repeatedly used false citizenship certificates that falsely attested to their status as Romanian citizens to obtain Romanian identity documents, according to the authorities.

Specifically, between February and July 2024, the defendants used citizenship certificates purportedly issued by the Consulate General of Romania in St. Petersburg, the Embassy of Romania in Baku, the Embassy of Romania in the Republic of Moldova, and the Consulate General of Romania in Chișinău.

“These falsely attested that they had acquired Romanian citizenship, and on their basis, the defendants obtained the transcription of their birth certificates in the National Register of Persons, the assignment of Romanian personal identification numbers, and the issuance of Romanian birth certificates by the Local Council of District 6,” prosecutors said, cited by Agerpres.

Subsequently, they obtained identity cards issued by the Câmpulung Moldovenesc Local Community Public Service for Personal Records. Based on those identity cards, they obtained simple electronic passports issued by the Suceava Community Public Service for Passports.

The money obtained by the individuals who fictitiously provided the defendants with registered addresses is to be confiscated.

The prosecutor in charge of the case also asked the court to annul the forged citizenship certificates, the entries in the civil status registers concerning the defendants’ births and their birth and marriage records, the birth certificates, as well as the subsequent documents obtained based on the forged citizenship certificates, namely the identity cards and passports.

Overall, following checks carried out by police at the properties where the defendants and other foreign citizens born in the former Soviet space had established their residences, the General Directorate for Persons Records had to cancel 1,702 identity cards because the registered residences were fictitious.

The indictment was sent to the Câmpulung Moldovenesc Court, the court competent to hear the case at first instance. In connection with this case, six plea agreements had previously been concluded, involving the same legal classification and the same pattern of facts.