POLICE seized more than 50 fake passports and 12 counterfeit driving licences during a morning raid in Bournemouth town centre.

The fraudulent documents, kept in a safe, were uncovered after officers searched a loft on February 27 this year. They also discovered bankcards, chequebooks and statements in a multitude of names, mostly of East European origin.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard how Aliaksandr Kryvulka, 32, from Belarus, had answered the door.

The flat was also occupied by his partner, Russian national Natalia Saeva, 23.

Kryvulka had come to the police’s attention on January 14 when he was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting at Bournemouth’s Castlepoint shopping centre with Ukranian Denys Bilituyk, 22, and another man whose whereabouts remain a mystery.

Kryvulka claimed to be Lithuanian, and Bilituyk, of no fixed address, claimed to be Latvian.

They both maintained they lived in Southampton, and the third man also gave false details.

The court was told how some of the passports and driving licences seized bore photographs of Kryvulka, Saeva and Bilituyk.

Kryvulka and Saeva admitted using the false passports to open bank accounts.

Kryvulka also pleaded guilty to three offences of possessing a fraudulent identity document with intent, five offences of possessing of possessing a fraudulent identity document, obtaining services by deception and fraud by false representation. He was jailed for two and a half years.

A confiscation order was made for £13,543, and part of that sum will be paid by the sale of his Mercedes car.

Bilituyk was arrested on May 4, 2009, for drink-driving. He gave a false name and continued to claim he was Latvian.

But when his true identity was revealed he admitted using a false identity to open a bank account.

Saeva admitted four offences under the Identity Card Act and two under the Fraud Act. She was jailed for eight months.

Bilituyk pleaded guilty to ID card act offences, shoplifting, failing to surrender to bail, and driving with excess alcohol.

He was jailed for six months and banned from driving for 18 months.

A Dorset police spokesman said: “This kind of organised crime will be robustly tackled.”