Devout muslim wanted to cover prostitute and drug paper trail

Monday 22 October 2018

Hiding fake ID inside the sole of his shoes was a man's panicked solution when he realised he was accidentally bringing it through Guernsey customs, but that was not enough to fool officers.

Khalid Azamini was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison when he appeared before the Magistrate's Court for possession of a fake, Belgian ID card.

The man is a self-proclaimed devout muslim, who was travelling to Guernsey from the Netherlands to visit a friend in the island, but accidentally brought with him the fake ID and a fake driving licence. 

On the 10 October, he was caught at St Peter Port harbour with the card, which held a different name to that Azamani was travelling under. He met Guernsey Police the following day and was arrested, and remanded in custody.

Azamani told the court he had purchased the counterfeit ID card, along with a fake driving licence, off the dark web, because he didn't want his extended muslim family to know he was using drugs and prostitutes in his small home town in the Netherlands. The court heard he visited a hotel where he lived to purchase drugs and prostitutes, both of which are decriminalised in the Netherlands. 

But it was when he travelled to Guernsey via the UK to visit his local friend, that Azamani realised he had accidentally brought those fake IDs with him, so panicked and hid them in his shoe. Unfortunately for him, he was searched at the border and the IDs were found.

Pictured: Judge Graeme McKerrell. 

Judge Graeme McKerrell was concerned over whether Azamani was telling the whole truth: "I am told you are a devout muslim, and yet you are involved in drugs and prostitutes - that seems to be a curious juxtaposition."

He also said he had a duty to protect the island's finance industry, which could be threatened by people attempting to enter with fake ID to set up bank accounts that may facilitate money laundering.

"Guernsey is an international finance centre, so we have to be very wary about people coming into our territory with false documents," he said.

"When Guernsey is evaluated as a finance centre by the IMF and other organisations, it is looked at not only in terms of the quality of the laws, but also how they are used and enforced. To that extent, the court has an enforcement role to play."

But Judge McKerrell was satisfied with Azamani's reasoning when his defence produced documents from a prison in the Netherlands, which detailed his release from a previous period of time served. These, the Judge said, were evidence enough Azamani was who he said he was. 

The man was given credit for pleading guilty to the charge, and also seeming to cooperate with the investigation, but the fact that the items were intentionally concealed was held against him. A financial penalty, it was decided, would not be enough.

Azamani's 10 week sentence ran from when he was first remanded in custody on the 11 October 2018.