Counterfeit euro gang busted in Kaunas

  • 2004-11-10
  • By Milda Seputyte
VILNIUS - A two-year long police investigation into forgery finally paid off when Lithuania's criminal police and the special unit Aras raided an underground printing house that was producing counterfeit euros in Kaunas. Thirteen suspects were literally caught red handed in the act of printing counterfeit euro notes.

The police seized some 8 million counterfeit euros in 100-euro denominations. In one officer's words, "the fakes were of very good quality."

The forged money is still being examined by police, although it is already known that the forged euros had reproduced some of the euro's safety features, such as its watermark. Only by using extremely accurate scales to weigh the fake samples and testing some of the currency's secretly hidden features were experts able to identify the notes as fake.

The police operation was carried out in various Lithuanian cities including Klaipeda and Telsiai.

Officers said that the gang not only had a well-organized production process but also a working distribution system.

It is estimated that the distributors managed to sell at least eight million euros. Customers usually purchased from 50,000 euros to 100,000 euros in one deal, although sometimes the sums were significantly higher. The forged money was sold at different prices depending on the country where the banknotes would be introduced. According to Lithuanian Police Commissioner General Vytautas Grigaravicius, the suspects were selling 100-euro notes for 50 euros to 80 euros each.

The officers also said that the distributors and the printing-house employees were paid rather poorly for their role in the organization. The payments were only slightly larger than the salaries of the regular workers in the printing-house, although the profits from selling the fake money are estimated to have reached millions of euros.

A number of Lithuanians have been caught with fake euros in various EU states recently, so the police findings in Kaunas have drawn attention from other European police forces combating counterfeit currency.

German officers came to Lithuania to compare the forged euros found in their country with the production of the Kaunas printing-house. It's hoped that a more detailed examination of the forged notes will help determine how widely the Kaunas' euros have been distributed. It's already been established that the notes provided by German officials are identical to the Kaunas notes.

Grigaravicius accepted personal thanks from the French ambassador in Lithuania, Guy Yelda, for busting the illegal operation, saying that French officers have detained many Lithuanians in possession of forged euros in France.

The Lithuanian police is now expecting a visit from Europol and Interpol authorities, which have also expressed their interest in the successful operation. Experts are assuming that the criminal gang is in some way related to an international mafia organization.

Eleven suspects have been detained for one to three months on charges of forging, possessing and selling forged currency. The crime carries a sentence of three to 10 years in prison. The other two suspects have been ordered to stay in the country.