Counterfeit Corner

Established in 2020 to support national law enforcement authorities in their efforts to fight financial and economic crimes and aid international cooperation, Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Centre (EFECC) has recently released its first threat assessment on the matter.

Titled ‘The Other Side of the Coin: An Analysis of Financial and Economic Crime’, the European Financial and Economic Crime Threat Assessment 2023 provides an in-depth assessment of the threats posed by financial and economic crimes at the EU level.

Whilst mostly focussing on money laundering, illicit financial transfers, corruption and fraud – including the growing use of cryptocurrencies in criminal activity – a section of the report has been dedicated to currency counterfeiting within the eurozone.

Talking about counterfeit euro banknotes distributed in the EU, the report points out that they are primarily produced in various member states of the EU. Raw materials, such as holograms, paper, and special inks, often come from Asia, purchased via e-commerce platforms and shipped in parcels and envelopes. Offset and digital printing remain major production methods for counterfeit banknotes. Illegal print shops are set up at various locations, including private premises and living spaces.

The report mentions that counterfeiting activity in the EU is not solely restricted to euro currency, but also other local currencies in use by member states outside the euro area, which are typically produced and distributed at national and regional level. In addition, seizures in the EU have included counterfeit US dollars, British pounds and Russian rubles.

Currency counterfeiting activities are established both in EU and non-EU countries, as seen with the organised crime groups dismantled in both Romania and Spain in recent years. EFECC notes that criminal networks active in this specific crime area have a high-level technical expertise and internal organisation with opportunity driven connections existing between criminal networks, mainly for the supply of the above-mentioned raw materials, but also for the distribution to certain markets across borders.

The report can be downloaded at www.europol.europa.eu/publications.