City employee arrested in driver permit middleman scandal

More suspects including a civil servant have been arrested in the document fraud scandal where foreign food delivery drivers allegedly paid hundreds of euros to a middleman in order to secure a driver’s permit.

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A female city employee and a service provider agent were arrested in Limassol on Monday in connection with an investigation into document fraud, after it emerged that foreign delivery drivers had sought to obtain or renew permits through middlemen.

Local media said the woman, who worked at Citizen Services Center in Limassol, was the one who received 20 driver’s license applications from foreign nationals, on whose behalf the documents had been submitted by the agency in question.

Two other locals and four foreign delivery drivers were already in police custody, while 16 other third country nationals are wanted by police.

The case emerged after an employee discovered ireegularities in the documents of 20 foreign nationals who applied through an agency to obtain or renew their driver’s permits.

Reports said a yellow slip was included in their documents, referring to an MUE2 form submitted by applicants who are married to EU citizens. But the foreign nationals, who submitted documents through an agent, ended up not being married to European nationals according to officials, who said the suspects ought to have submitted a pink slip that is used for foreigners on temporary stay in the country.

The immigration status of the suspects was not immediately clear but Limassol officials described their temporary documents had reached an expiration document.

Many foreign nationals on student or work visas in Cyprus have been rumored to seek asylum in order to solve a labor dispute or get more favorable employability status, after reports said employers were unfair or hesitant to employ workers with a lot of restrictions and paperwork.

But despite recent simplifications, official guidelines reportedly still instruct asylum seekers who wish to renew their driver permits to present an original pink slip showing legal presence in the Republic of Cyprus, a document no longer issued by the Immigration office for such purposes.

CID Limassol is handling the case as they are investigating multiple offenses, including illegal stay, document fraud, and forgery.