Romanian prosecutors find “biggest forger of plastic banknotes in the world”

Romanian anti-organized crime prosecutors dismantled on Wednesday, June 24, a crime ring specialized in forging money. The Directorate for Combatting Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) claims that the network’s leader is the biggest forger of plastic banknotes in the world.

The group started operating in spring 2014. Since then, it has produced and used over 17,000 banknotes of RON 100 (EUR 20.8), causing a total damage of over RON 1.7 million (EUR 354,000), according to DIICOT.

“In a relatively short time, the group’s leader managed to produce the best counterfeits in Romania’s history and become the biggest forger of plastic banknotes in the world,” DIICOT said in a press release.

The forged banknotes were made on polymer sheets similar to those used for real Romanian banknotes. They imitated all the safety elements intended for the public, including micro perforations, iridescent tape, latent image, transparent window, color-changing ink, printing visible in ultraviolet light. These features made the counterfeit money almost impossible to identify by the persons who come into their possession. For this reason, the banknotes became known as the "SUPER RON".

The money was found to be fake only when they reached cash processing centers, which have better equipment for spotting counterfeits. The cashiers in shops or bank units who received such banknotes were unable to help the investigators because they couldn’t tell when they received the banknotes as they didn’t realize they were forged.

(Photo source: DIICOT)