Novi Sad: Police database secrets sold, fake passports made
A new phase of an operation launched on June 9 led to arrests of suspects accused of leaking confidential MUP database data and forging biometric passports for mafia bosses, priced from 30,000 to 50,000 euros.
- The action continues an investigation launched on June 9, 2026; suspects S.A. and B.S. were detained.
- The suspects allegedly leaked data from the unified MUP database to foreign criminals and wanted persons.
- They are suspected of producing genuine biometric passports and ID cards filled with false personal details.
- The forged documents reportedly sold for between 30,000 and 50,000 euros.
Police in Novi Sad have continued an operation against people suspected of selling confidential data from the Ministry of Interior database to foreign criminals. In the latest step, two people were detained, identified in the investigation by the initials S.A. and B.S.
The action is a continuation of an investigation that began on June 9 of this year. That is when investigators first targeted those suspected of abusing access to the unified MUP information database. According to unofficial information, one of the suspects is a police officer who repeatedly accessed the database without authorization using his own service password.
They are accused of forwarding the database data to dangerous foreign fugitives and leaders of criminal groups, including people who are the subject of arrest warrants. This was information that allowed those people to evade arrest, monitor police work, or prepare new false identities.
How did the document forgery chain work?
Beyond leaking data, the suspects are also accused of producing forged documents. According to the investigation, they obtained genuine Serbian biometric passports and ID cards, but filled in with false personal details. Such documents are hard to detect because they are produced on real templates, through the very system that normally issues authentic papers.
The clients of this chain, as suspected, were foreign nationals with criminal records and mafia clan leaders. For new identities they reportedly paid between 30,000 and 50,000 euros per set of documents. The price depended on how urgent and how risky it was to secure a given identity.
A forged biometric passport is no ordinary piece of paper. It carries a chip with personal data and, when produced through the official system, looks entirely valid at border crossings. That is exactly what makes this kind of crime so dangerous, since it lets wanted people move freely under someone else’s name.
Why is a leak from a state database dangerous?
The unified MUP information database holds sensitive data on citizens, vehicles, documents, and ongoing investigations. Access to it is tightly restricted and logged, so every query leaves a trace. Investigators are now relying on those traces to establish how many times and for what purposes the database was abused.
The guilt of none of those detained has been established by a final court ruling. The suspects are defending themselves in line with their rights, while the prosecution continues to gather evidence. The investigation is still underway, so the number of suspects and the scale of the damage could prove larger than is known so far.
The case also raises a broader question about the security of state databases. If a single employee with legitimate access can carry out confidential information, how protected is the data of millions of citizens stored in MUP systems?
