Current News on Counterfeit Euro Banknote Fraud
Segovia, Valladolid, Salamanca, and Leon among the affected cities
Family arrested for counterfeiting money
The national police have dismantled a network that was dedicated to creating and distributing counterfeit money, especially 50 euro bills, and, as they have made public, they would have introduced around 500,000 counterfeit euro bills.
The operation began in Segovia, with the arrest of two people, members of the same family and has ended with another four arrests in Valencia. They are all members of the same family who were in charge of creating the counterfeit money, aging it, and distributing it in the market.
The operation is the result of investigations carried out by the Investigation Brigade of the Bank of Spain, the Provincial Brigade of Judicial Police of Segovia, and the Economic Crime Group of the Superior Police Headquarters of Valencia.
The investigation began at the end of last year, when the National Police arrested in Segovia J.G.S., a 61-year-old man, and R.S.C., a 32-year-old woman, as alleged perpetrators of a counterfeit money distribution crime. The rest of the arrests took place in Valencia a few days ago. The detainees are J.B.H., a 60-year-old man; J.C.G.B, a 28-year-old man; J.L.G.B., a 32-year-old man; and A.I.G.S., a 31-year-old woman.
The modus operandi was always the same. To distribute the counterfeit money, they traveled in a high-end vehicle throughout the national geography and in each city, they chose the 'appropriate' establishment to 'place' the bills, having a preference for hairdressers and haberdasheries, where there are no devices to check the authenticity of the bills. The family group was skilled in counterfeiting and before the introduction of the euro, they had carried out similar operations with 5,000 peseta bills.
The police authorities have discovered their fraudulent distribution in numerous provinces such as Valladolid, Segovia, Salamanca, Leon, Pontevedra, Malaga, Murcia, Badajoz, Granada, Toledo, and, especially, the Valencian Community.
The high activity of the dismantled group has reported high profits, which could be around 500,000 euros, allowing them to maintain a high standard of living, including the recent purchase of a recreational boat.
Operation against counterfeiting in Jaen
Four arrested, one charged, twenty-four fifty euro bills seized in an operation of the National Police of Jaen against counterfeiting
Agents of the National Police assigned to the Specialized and Violent Crime Unit of the National Police Station of Jaen began an investigation to clarify the report of an attempt to "pass" counterfeit bills at a shopping center in the city.
It was the month of July when D. V. S. , a resident of Jaén tried to return a laptop valued at 699 € that had previously been purchased by J.M.F.C. and A.T.B. at a shopping center in Jaén, paying for it with fourteen counterfeit fifty euro bills that were detected by the security services of said center. Because of this, he is detained by the Security Guards who immediately inform the 091 Room of the incident in question, which commissions a Citizen Security patrol that, once informed of the alleged criminal act, proceeds to the arrest of D.V.S. and his transfer to police stations.
The investigators begin their work and proceed to identify and arrest the buyers of the mentioned computer: J.M.F.C. and A.T.B. charging them with an alleged crime of Counterfeiting of currency, typified in article 386 of the Penal Code and Fraud for which they are brought to Judicial disposition for these facts.
Later, the investigators, discover that J.M.F.C. and A.T.B. tried to pay with counterfeit money for a video console for an amount of 249’50 using five counterfeit fifty Euro bills at a store in the Shopping Center dedicated to the trade of video games, for which they were again detained charging them with the same crimes as the previous time.
On the other hand, a businessman from Jaén, appears in the Duty Court and recounts that it was he who gave J.M.F.C and A.T.B. twenty fifty Euro bills (1000 €) for the purchase of a computer, but that he was unaware that these bills were fake and that they were handed over by Juan José L.A., a resident of Villanueva del Arzobispo (Jaén) for the purchase-sale of a motorcycle for which he handed over twelve hundred € in fifty bills.
The investigations focus on Juan José L.A. Little by little, the investigators discover that Juan José was arrested by the Civil Guard for being in possession of a million counterfeit dollars and that he is a very "elusive" individual since nothing is known about him, and the addresses he provides are not true, he has no properties in his name and travels constantly.
Finally, and as a result of the intense work of the Investigating Officers of the U.D.E.V.. from the Police Station of the National Police Corps of Jaén, they manage to find the whereabouts and address of Juan José L.A. in a house located in a development on the outskirts of San Pedro de Alcántara (Málaga). And after a long and patient wait, on the seventh day of the current month, he was arrested and brought to Judicial disposition of the Duty Court of Marbella by Juan José L.A. for an alleged crime of Counterfeiting of Currency.
As of today, the investigations of the Officers of the National Police of Jaén remain open and new arrests are not ruled out.
They dismantle a counterfeit bill center in a villa in Valencia
Efe | Madrid | Valencia Updated Thursday 04/06/09
The National Police have dismantled a mass production center of counterfeit euro bills in a villa located in Godelleta (Valencia), in an operation in which forged bills worth more than 185,000 euros were seized.According to the General Directorate of the Police and the Civil Guard, inside the large, isolated villa, there was industrial machinery used to mass-produce the counterfeits and reproduce the security measures of the bills.
In the operation four people were arrested and copies of 20 euro bills already completed for an amount of more than 185,000 euros were seized, in addition to having material prepared to produce 10,000 more units that were going to be distributed in the Community of Madrid and the Valencian Community.
Nine months on the trail
The investigations began nine months ago when the Police detected counterfeit 20 euro bills at different points along the Levantine coast.
The agents located the head of the group that made the counterfeits and who was in charge of the final printing of the bills and found out that only he and his wife knew the location of the production center, which they hid from relatives and even the other members of the gang.
Inside the villa, the agents found the bills hidden all over the house in closets or under the beds. Given the large amount of counterfeits that were produced, the bills went through different machines, some through mechanical belts, which printed, dried, and stored them.
In addition, during the investigation the Police detected that the counterfeits were perfected to try to imitate the security measures with even greater fidelity. Among the four arrested, in addition to the head of the organization, is the person in charge of distribution in Madrid.
