April 28, 2008	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 21, 1429

BANGKOK, April 27: Thai police arrested and charged a man from Bangladesh found in possession of hundreds of fake passports and visas, a senior police official said on Sunday.

Mohammed Karim, 56, was arrested in a rented house in Bangkok by police investigating a gang of foreign counterfeiters.

They found 90 real passports, 577 fake US and European passports, 680 counterfeit visas and 1,680 fake passport photo pages, mostly for American passports, police Lt-Col Sophon Sarapat said.

“Karim confessed and he was charged with conspiring to make counterfeit passports for sale, and making fake visas,” he said after Saturday’s arrest.

One Thai and one Myanmar citizen, also alleged to be involved in the global counterfeiting ring, escaped, Sophon added.

Karim could face a maxi-

mum of 20 years in jail if convicted.—AFP