Sofia's anti-organized crime police have busted a gang engaged in making forged documents, the Interior Ministry's press office reported.

After being detained for 24 hours, the three Sofia residents will remain under arrest for 72 hours, following a ruling of the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office.

Pre-trial proceedings have been opened on the case.

The offenders were discovered in the course of an investigation on a tip-off for the production and distribution of fake documents, including high school diplomas, university degrees, driving licenses and conviction status certificates.

On October 26, anti-mafia task officers captured 35-year-old A.K and 50-year-old I.T. as they were preparing a fake conviction status certificate of a customer.

Minutes later, the police officers detained 49-year old D.I, an accomplice of the two specialized in providing blank forms of the documents and stamps.

A police search of the premises used by the three yielded numerous stamps, including ones used by the Sofia City Court (SCC), two typewriters, five laptops, five memory devices, a laser copier, a printer and stacks of CDs.

The police raid also discovered a notebook containing personal data, copies of ID cards and photos, blank forms of documents and a ready fake high school diploma.

An inquiry showed that both A.K and I.T had criminal records and A.K was in a probation period after a conviction for similar offence.

Tariffs charged by the three for the preparation of fake documents varied between BGN 30 and BGN 200.