Woman jailed for stealing identity

Qamar Yasmeen

A woman has been jailed after she created a life for herself on a false passport.

Qamar Yasmeen, 41, of Mere Street, Rochdale was convicted of three counts of possession of false identity documents.

The defendant, was today, (Wednesday 25 August 2010) sentenced to 16 months imprisonment at Manchester Crown Court.

Yasmeen was also given an indefinite restraining order not to use the victim's details.

On 11 July 2009, the victim took her passport into the Identity and Passport Service in Liverpool, as she wished to renew it.

Staff members checked the system and found a passport had already been issued in 2002 to someone with the same name and date of birth, but a different photograph and address.

Following a joint investigation between Greater Manchester Police, the Borders Agency and the Identity and Passport Service, it was discovered Yasmeen had the other passport.

The victim's childhood passport was issued in 1992 and declared lost by the victim when she moved home. A replacement was issued in 1999 for the lost passport.

In 2002, Yasmeen applied for a passport renewal and included, as part of the application, the lost 1992 childhood passport.

She was issued with a new passport, with her photo alongside the victim's details. The fraud came to light in 2009, when the victim went for a renewal.

Yasmeen has over the past seven years built up a cloned identity using the false passport.

When police searched the defendant's address they found a large number of documents.

Yasmeen had gained employment under the false name and a provisional driving licence.

She also obtained the victim's birth certificate and got a Pakistan National Identity Card using the false details.

Yasmeen also travelled to Pakistan in 2007 using the false passport and, using the victim's name and later father's details, the defendant married, meaning in the eyes of the law, the victim is married in Pakistan.

Following the marriage, Yasmeen sponsored her husband into the UK.

Detective Constable Ben Harris of Rochdale CID said: "Yasmeen only provided her true details when she was sentenced but went through the trial using the victim's details.

"She has shown little remorse for her actions and has created a false life for herself from one passport, including getting married.

"The ramifications of what the defendant has done are huge and the victim now has to try and pick up the pieces of her stolen identity."