Mysterious WhatsApp fraudster sells fake EU passport for $5K, man caught using it claims he didn’t know it was fake
A man made it all the way from London, UK, to Orlando, Florida, with a fake European passport. The traveler claimed he didn’t know it was fake and blamed it all on a WhatsApp fraudster he found online.
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Georgian national Jano Mikava was stopped at Orlando International Airport after arriving from London with a fake Latvian passport.
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US officers found invalid documents and visa numbers, along with evidence of his real Georgian passport, on his phone.
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Mikava said he bought the passport for €4,500 from a person named “Georgie” on WhatsApp and Messenger, and he claimed he didn’t passport was fake.
A Georgian national was caught attempting to enter the US using a fake Latvian passport he allegedly purchased for €4,500 ($5,200) on WhatsApp.
Jano Mikava was traveling from London and arrived at Orlando International Airport via an Atlantic Airlines flight.
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Mikava presented his travel documents under a false name, Reinis Burkovskis, and his supposed approved Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) number.
He was allegedly planning to travel through the US to Canada until he was stopped and his fake documents were checked.
Officers discovered that the document and visa numbers generated under the false name Mikava didn’t exist, and the passport failed tests.
It’s unclear whether the false identity Mikava assumed was stolen or was purely fabricated by fraudsters.
Following the passport failure, Mikava’s phone was taken in for inspection, which revealed his true identity as they found an image of his Georgian passport.
Under oath, Mikava revealed that he had allegedly bought the fake passport from someone called “Georgie” on Meta’s WhatsApp and Messenger.
Mikava claimed he was planning to pay Georgie for the passport upon his arrival in Canada.
It’s unclear as to whether Georgie exists or whether Mikava is part of a larger criminal organization that uses fraudulent passports to commit crimes internationally.
The man who used the fake passport told law enforcement he didn’t realize it was fake, according to the criminal complaint.
Law enforcement is now alleging that Mikava knowingly and willingly used a fake passport in violation of federal law that criminalizes the forgery, alteration, or false use of a passport.
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