Sri Lankan man jailed for having fake Belgian passport

A 25-year-old Sri Lankan man was sent to jail for three months after pleading guilty to possession of a forged passport.
The statement of facts submitted in court by the Immigration Prosecuting Officer Norliza Hj Matnoor stated that Pratheepan Davidrasiah was detained by a Royal Brunei Airlines staff at the check-in counter when he presented a Belgian passport upon his arrival in the country on July 27, 2008.

RBA staff received information from the authorities in Kuala Lumpur that the passport the defendant had presented was believed to be a forged one.

The defendant had intended to fly to London from here.

RBA staff handed the defendant over to immigration personnel on duty at the Brunei International Airport and later to the police for investigations.

Pratheepan, in his statement, said that he left his hometown in 2000 and travelled to Thailand and then Belgium as arranged by an agent for the amount of US$15,000 using a Sri Lankan passport.

He said that he worked as a cook in a restaurant in Belgium for seven years.

The court further heard that the defendant had given his Sri Lankan passport to the agent who gave the Belgian passport to him in return.

The Immigration Department of Brunei Darussalam received confirmation from the Royal Embassy of Belgium that the defendant's passport was forged.