Sydenham men ran fraudulent passport business for murderers

Anthony Beard, a 61-year-old who lived of Kirkdale, and Christopher Zietek, a 67-year-old of Collingtree Road, provided fraudulently-obtained genuine passports (FOGs) to organised criminals for between £5,000 and £20,000. 

The National Crime Agency said the pair worked together for five years but officers believe Beard had been procuring FOGs for 20 years. 

The documents were issued authentically but Beard and Zietek applied for them on behalf of criminals using false information. 

Beard and Zietek exploited vulnerable people with drink or drug problems who were the same age and looked similar to their clients. 

They paid the vulnerable people for their expired passports and their details were used to apply for new ones but with photographs of the criminals. 

Video footage released by the NCA show Beard printing photos for the scam in Snappy Snaps in Bromley, before calling HM Passport Office to chase up on the status of one of their FOGS. The NCA also released footage of Zietek’s arrest. 

Among the recipients were murderers Jordan Owen and Christopher Hughes, drug trafficker Michael Moogan and fugitive David Walley. 

Beard, who pleaded guilty to fraud offences, also admitted supplying over 70 FOGs used by other criminals. 

Zietek, who was formerly known as Christopher McCormack and was believed to be an enforcer for the Adams crime family in London, split his time between Sydenham, Ireland and Spain. 

He acted as the FOG broker and exploited his criminal connections to obtain clients for the crime group. 

Alan Thompson, 72, from Sutton, Surrey, was also found guilty on 17 March. He worked for Zietek doing everything from chauffeuring him to criminal meetings to performing necessary tasks for the brokering of FOG passports, including meeting Beard when Zietek was abroad. 

Today (May 16) Zietek was sentenced to eight years in prison, Beard to six years and Thompson to three years. 

Beard and Zietek were both given prison sentences (Image: NCA)

NCA Deputy Director Craig Turner said: “The fraudulent passports this crime group supplied were seen as golden tickets by criminals, as they allowed them to operate internationally under false identities and pose a sustained threat to the public. 

“The investigation demonstrates the NCA’s unique role in tackling the most serious and complex crime threats facing the UK. We have dismantled a crime group that enabled drug and firearm traffickers, murderers and fugitives to evade justice. 

“We worked across international borders to bring the masterminds to account, and we will continue to protect the UK from criminals who present a threat to our security, people and economy.”