Israelis plead guilty to passport fraud

5.40pm

Two Israeli men suspected of being Mossad spies, have pleaded guilty to attempting to illegally gain a New Zealand passport.

Uriel Zoshe Kelman, 30, and Eli Cara, 50, were arrested on March 23 after police covertly followed the men when they were arranging to pick up a passport for which they had fraudulently applied.

They had attempted to assume the identity of a wheelchair-bound cerebral palsy victim.

Two other men though to be involved in the crime are still on the loose. One has been named as Zev William Barkin, 36, but police do not know the identity of the fourth man.

Cara and Kelman pleaded guilty in the High Court at Auckland this afternoon.

They were remanded in custody at their own request and will be sentenced on July 15.