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Printers and guillotines recovered in forgery raid
06/12/2006 13:15
Police have recovered printers and guillotines as part of a raid on a criminal gang responsible for around two thirds of all counterfeit money circulating in the UK economy.
The gang consisted of five generations of the same family and were so proficient at reproducing fake £20 notes that the Bank of England was concerned for the whole of the UK's banking system.
Police recovered a host of equipment, including hot foiling machines, printers and guillotines, from workshops on Shoreditch High Street in London.
At Snaresbrook Crown Court in the London/Essex borders, 11 members of the gang were sentenced to a total of 41.5 years in prison for their part in the forgery scam.
It is understood that police and the Bank of England recovered over £14 million in forged £20 notes and around £1,367,550 in counterfeit £50 notes.
Specialist forgery officers had been hunting for the gang since 2004, when Bank of England officials became aware of the gang and reported them to the police.
Following an extensive investigation, police were able to bug properties where they believed the equipment necessary to reproduce so many good quality copies was being stored and were eventually able to smash the forgery ring.
At Paperstone, we offer a range of guillotines and other office machines that are designed for wholly legal purposes.
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