The Federal Ministry of the Interior has announced plans to thoroughly investigate a major case involving organized fraud within naturalization applications. A spokesman told the newspaper “Spiegel” that the ministry intends to “undertake everything necessary to uncover fraudulent acts that have occurred, in order to initiate remedial procedures.”
Last week, it came to light that numerous fraudsters, mainly originating from China, had managed to obtain German passports through deception. These suspects submitted naturalization applications to the Federal Administrative Office (BVA) in Cologne, falsely claiming to be relatives of Jewish individuals who were persecuted and displaced from Germany by the Nazis. The scammers exploited Article 116 of the Basic Law, which permits the re-naturalization of Holocaust survivors and their descendants. The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Düsseldorf and the Federal Criminal Police Office are currently investigating 32 suspects in connection with these charges.
The Ministry of the Interior, under Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), noted that the exposed cases are receiving “great attention.” The spokesman expressed regret over the “identity thefts,” stating that the applicants had “abused biographies of Nazi victims.” Furthermore, a commitment was made to implement consequences: as soon as sufficient information is gathered, the BVA will immediately commence revocation proceedings in cases of fraudulently obtained citizenship, meaning the suspects could potentially lose their German passports.
The passport fraudsters fabricated kinship ties to real historical Nazi victims. According to the applications, an alleged family with the Chinese surname Wong claimed ancestry from a Jewish couple named Süßkind.
The general method used by the scammers was consistent: they commissioned the forgery of an Israeli birth certificate and a passport, changing the name and place of birth. These falsified documents were then authenticated by notaries before being handed over to consular officials at a German representation. Only the notarized copies arrived at the BVA in Cologne.
While the ministry spokesman defended the general procedures used by the BVA during the application reviews, the BVA had previously stated that it would not comment on ongoing investigations before this case was made public.
