Pakistani national sentenced to 18 years behind bars for passport-related crimes

JOHANNESBURG - A Pakistani national has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for passport-related crimes, ranging from corruption to bribery.

Arfan Ahmed was arrested during a multi-disciplinary sting operation by police and Home Affairs officials in 2022.

Law enforcement officials discovered multiple illegally obtained passports at his house in Krugersdorp.

The Department of Home Affairs said its multi-disciplinary operation with other law enforcement agencies found that Ahmed was working with 12 corrupt Home Affairs officials.

The employees have since been dismissed following disciplinary processes.

His network is said to have spanned across Gauteng, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, the Eastern Cape, the Western Cape and Mpumalanga.

Ahmed is serving eight years in prison for the illegally obtained passports at his home.

He was also convicted of corruption and bribing Home Affairs officials in Krugersdorp with R45,000.

The Krugersdorp Regional Court recently sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment for being the kingpin of the passport photo swap.