Forgers go to jail for supplying fake British IDs to high-profile criminals
Snaresbrook Crown Court has sentenced two forgers who earned over £1 million by supplying fake UK identity documents to other criminals.
Bilal Iqbal, 25, and Ummad Ahmed, 32, both from East London, pleaded guilty in February to a total of five charges, which included making false identity documents and money laundering.
Iqbal and Ahmed charged around £70 for a fake British driving license and offered a range of optional extras, such as holographic stickers or raised text, for an additional cost.
Customers could also pay £40 for an express service to receive their ID in three or four days, instead of two to three weeks.
NCA investigators estimate the pair sold more than 40,000 fake IDs – an average of around 100 per week – over an eight-year period.
They made over £1 million and laundered their illegal profits through a window cleaning company.
Without close inspection by a trained eye, the driving licenses were identical to the official cards issued by the DVLA.
Both men were arrested by officers on January 21, 2025, hours before they were due to board a flight to Dubai.
At the time of his arrest, Iqbal was carrying envelopes containing 19 fake UK driving licenses, and 21 more were seized from his car and home in Ilford.
Items seized from Ahmed’s home address in Hornchurch included an ID card printer, laminator, blank plastic cards, holographic foil, and over £20,000 in cash.
The duo’s criminal enterprise was revealed during a separate NCA investigation into an international drug trafficker.
The trafficker purchased a fake ID from Iqbal and Ahmed, and used it to travel across borders in mainland Europe. From there, he imported over 300 kilos of Class A drugs into the UK.
Fake identity documents can also assist irregular migrants smuggled into the UK on small boats and in lorries.
They can be used to gain employment, open bank accounts, and commit acts of fraud to claim benefits and housing.
On May 22, at Snaresbrook Crown Court, a judge sentenced both Iqbal and Ahmed to six years’ imprisonment each, half of which will be served on licence.
John Turner, NCA senior investigating officer, said: “These men ran an extremely lucrative illegal enterprise and operated as professional enablers at the heart of serious and organised crime.
“These IDs helped high-profile criminals evade law enforcement and operate anonymously. They could also be used by offenders involved in organised immigration crime to provide people smuggled into the country with false UK identities.
“Tackling enablers of wider criminality, such as Iqbal and Ahmed, is a key pillar in our mission to protect the public from serious and organised crime.”
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