Georgian citizen arrested for forging US visas
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A Georgian citizen has been arrested for illegally creating fraudulent United States (US) visas.
The woman, only named as Nino Sikharulidze, allegedly created US green cards (permanent residence status) for Georgian citizens in exchange for a payment worth more than 20,000 GEL.
Officials said the woman was caught thanks to collaboration between the Georgian police and a Diplomatic Security representative from the US Embassy in Tbilisi.
A joint press conference was held yesterday by Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the Security Department of the US Embassy and the General Chief Prosecutor’s Office. The sides claimed the woman was arrested for allegedly forging US visas and using forged documents in large quantities.
The MIA said an investigation revealed the woman, aged 34, produced fake documentation in English using special forms emblazed with the US official logo and markings for the purpose of creating US green cards. For this service she charged $8,100 USD and an additional €1,000, the MIA claimed.
The woman is the director of Georgian tourist company Gino Travel.
The MIA outlined a case example where Sikharulidze had helped a Georgian client to fraudulently obtain a US visa. It said a client had applied for a US visa and had won a special lottery awarding allowing them to apply for a green card. The client was awarded a visa but did not fulfill the visa conditions so the visa was revoked.
The client reapplied but a meeting the consul was not approved. The client then went to Gino Travel and asked for help, to which Sikharulidze gave "false promises and produced fake documents” for the client. She demanded the client pay $8,100 USD and an additional €1,000 from the client as payment for restoring their US visa.
The MIA noted Sikharulidze had already pled guilty to the charge against her.
During the investigation police searched the woman’s house and office. They seized various fake documents, clients’ passports and forged stamps of various organisations, computer hardware and $1000 USD.
The MIA stated the investigation was still in progress, under Article 180 of the Criminal Code of Georgia, on the fact of forgery by means of production and using falsified documents in large quantities.
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