Semlex Group, founded in 1992, produces documents and devices for secure identification and offers corresponding services. It is owned and operated by Syrian-Belgian businessman
Albert Karaziwan
Albert Karaziwan (born 1958) is a Syrian-Belgian businessman who owns and operates Semlex Group, a Belgian identification document and device production company notable for supplying over a dozen African nations with passports or other ID documen ...
.
It prints the passports of several African and Asian countries, including
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
,
Comoros
The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...
,
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
,
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...
,
Madagascar and
Moldova
Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...
. It has been accused of regularly using bribery and kickbacks to secure business.
In 2019, Semlex was awarded the contract to produce national identity cards in Côte d'Ivoire. Semlex reports financing projects in the field of education, notably in the Comoros and Côte d'Ivoire.
References
{{Comoros Passport Scandal
Printing companies of Belgium
Publishing companies established in 1992