Eight in court over passports heist
Reporter: Janice Barker
Date published: 22 September 2009
Eight men have appeared in court in connection with the theft of passports worth £2.5 million from a van in Chadderton.
Boxes containing more than 3,000 blank passports and visas were stolen after the Citroen Relay van left 3M Security Printing and System, in Gorse Street, in July last year.
The vehicle was targeted after the driver jumped out to buy a newspaper and a chocolate bar from a newsagent’s shop in Long Lane.
Mohammed Khan (53) of Werneth; Stephen Shaw, (57) of Droylsden; Mohammed Shanawaz (23) of Chadderton; Jawad Karim (18) of Oldham; Muneer Hussain (30) of Oldham; Mohammed Fiaz, (34) of Stretford; and Mubashar Iqbal (22) of Oldham, all deny conspiracy to steal 3,650 passports and 8,100 visas.
Khan, Shanawaz, Karim, Hussain, Fiaz and an eighth defendant, Nisar Ahmed, of Oldham, also deny conspiring to dishonestly receive stolen goods.
The theft involved 24 parcels containing blank passports and blank stickers for visas, destined for embassies abroad.
The delivery was being made on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
A jury was due to be sworn in at Manchester Crown Court today when the prosecution case is due to open.
