Pakistani Canadian , image = , pop = ''303,260'' (0.81%) , popplace = , region1 = , pop1 = 212,650 , region2 = , pop2 = 39,535 , region3 = , pop3 = 16,645 ...

document-

forger Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

and immigrant-smuggler, Michael John Hamdani (also ''Amarjit Singh Sangha, Azam Shah, Ranjit Singh, Ahmad Malik'') rose to notoriety after he entered a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

with authorities, and triggered a

manhunt Manhunt may refer to: Search processes * Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive * Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies Social organisations * Manhun ...

for five fictitious Middle Eastern terrorists he invented. Authorities were later chastised for crying wolf, and frightening the public with a terrorism alert from the information they had.

2002 terrorism hoax

Arrested in October 2002 with $600,000 worth of

forged Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it ...

traveler's cheque A traveller's cheque is a medium of exchange that can be used in place of hard currency. They can be denominated in one of a number of major world currencies and are preprinted, fixed-amount cheques designed to allow the person signing it to ma ...

s, Hamdani later told prosecutors that Middle-Eastern men had approached him about acquiring documentation to allow them to travel from Pakistan, to England, to Canada, and finally entering the United States on December 24. He claimed to have been offered a large sum of money,

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

, "Fake-ID Arrest led to FBI Hunt", January 3, 2002 but denied that he had created the false passports. By December 29, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

had alerted authorities across the country to be on the lookout, transmitting photographs, names and birthdates of five people provided by Hamdani. The names and ages were Abid Noraiz Ali, 25; Iftikhar Khozmai Ali, 21; Mustafa Khan Owasi, 33; Adil Pervez; 19; and Akbar Jamal, 28.

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

FBI issue US alert for missing Arab men
December 31, 2002 The following day, a woman reported having seen two of the men on a

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

three weeks earlier. The

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...

stated that the men had arrived at

Pearson Airport Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surro ...

weeks earlier, and claimed refugee status.

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

Border patrol, NYV Police search for fugitive Arabs
December 31, 2002 Some media outlets began claiming the men had crossed the border in

Mohawk Territory The Mohawk people ( moh, Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) are the most easterly section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people of North America, with communities in southeastern Canada and northern Ne ...

, leading to a complaint from natives that they were being unfairly blamed when no evidence supported the claim. On December 30, anti-terrorism police stormed six locations in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and

Queens, New York Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long I ...

in connection with the investigation. Several days after the manhunt began, a

jeweler A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmith, Goldsmith, stone setting, engraving, fabrica ...

Lahore, Pakistan Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

named Mohammed Asghar came forward to state that one of the photographs was of him, and that he had no idea why it had been released with the name "Mustafa Khan Owasi", or associated with any investigation.

Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

, "How dare some other fellow misuse my fake documents! ", January 14, 2003 Authorities then declined to release the other 14 names, due to the "dubious quality" of the information.

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

FBI: Illegal 5 Manhunt was False Alarm
January 7, 2003

Later arrests

Hamdani was arrested again in January 2008, along with his wife, son, daughter and son-in-law, for continuing to operate his forgery business while living in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

, avoiding police in Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver.Wilkes, Jim.

Guelph Mercury The ''Guelph Mercury'' was an English language daily newspaper published in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It published a mix of community, national and international news and is owned by the Torstar Corporation. The newspaper, in many incarnations, w ...

Forgery suspects nabbed
, January 18, 2008Rosella, Louie.

Mississauga News ''The Mississauga News'' is a local tabloid newspaper in Mississauga, Ontario. ''The Mississauga News'' is part of Metroland Media Group, a subsidiary of Torstar. In addition to the biweekly print edition, the newspaper also operates a website i ...

Father, son accused of running counterfeit operation
January 17, 2008

References

External links

The five photos Hamdani provided
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamdani, Michael John Living people 21st-century Canadian criminals Canadian male criminals Pakistani emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Forgers Canadian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Canada Year of birth missing (living people)