The masterminds behind one of Britain’s most convincing fake bank note scandles were yesterday convicted and are now awaiting sentencing. However, while some members of the gang will face a hefty prison sentence, others may not get the opportunity.
The reason? The majority are already old enough to claim a pension, with the oldest member being aged 83.
According to police reports the gang forged over £5million worth of almost-perfect counterfeit notes during their illustrious career, with £20 and €50 notes being their speciality. With a number of production sites located in both London and Glasgow, they had the capacity to produce more that £800 near-perfect notes every thirty minutes.
The pensioners’ ‘professional’ scam was even enough to send alarm bells ringing at the Bank of England who launched a nationwide alert on £20 notes during the gang’s heyday.
Forgery experts at the Bank have even commented on the impressive quality of the counterfeit notes with the only noticable differences being the type of ink and paper used; the central bank have their own exclusive supply of cotton-based paper which is unavailable elsewhere.
The court heard that the gang’s customers were predominantly large-scale criminal organisations who were responsible for filtering the fraudulent notes throughout Europe. However, despite the wide reach of their scam, it is now believed that all of the gang’s counterfeit copies have been removed from circulation.
