Sydenham man remanded in custody charged with channeling fake passports to criminal gangs

A man arrested in connection with the supply of fraudulent passports to some of the UK’s most notorious organised criminals has been charged.

Christopher McCormack – also known as Christopher Zietek – aged 66, of Collingtree Road, Sydenham, was remanded in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today (12 October) charged with one count of conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice, two counts of conspiracy to make a false instrument and one count of money laundering.

McCormack, who splits his time between Spain, the UK and Ireland, is due to appear at Reading Crown Court on November 9.

He is expected to be tried with charges relating to acting as a broker between criminals seeking to buy the passports and crime group members that supplied them.

Four of the nine people also arrested in raids yesterday carried out by the National Crime Agency, are believed to be members of the crime group. They have been released under investigation. They were: a 52-year-old woman from Mounthurst Road, Hayes, Bromley; a 34-year-old woman from Elgar Street, Rotherhithe; a 40-year-old woman from Circus Road West, Battersea; and a 62-year-old woman from Westminster Road, Sutton. The remaining five people have been bailed.

Another 14 people arrested by the NCA in Kent, Essex and Merseyside, who were suspected of assisting the group, have all been released under investigation.