Around the World – Counterfeiting Update

In this periodic series summarising counterfeit currency around the world, we focus on the latest news from Switzerland, Ukraine, Spain and Bulgaria.

Two individuals charged in Switzerland

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has filed an indictment in the Federal Criminal Court against two Swiss nationals, who are alleged to have built and operated a highly professional counterfeiting workshop in the canton of Zurich, with the aim of producing and circulating forged US$50 banknotes with a face value of at least $5 million.

The workshop was discovered by chance when the police were looking into the suspected production and possession of narcotics. During a search, the two suspects were caught in the act of producing the forged $50 bills and were arrested.

They have been charged with acting in concert from mid-November 2021. In addition to the finished notes, printed sheets were seized in various stages of production, to a value of around $8 million.