A counterfeiter who made counterfeit banknotes worth 11 million euros has been arrested in Italy (5 photos)

Experts have found traces on banknotes indicating that they were produced in an underground workshop. It turned out that 27% of all banknotes seized in Europe last year had such signs.





In Naples (Italy), investigators have stormed what is likely one of the largest counterfeit money printing factories in Europe. The Central Anti-Counterfeiting Directorate of the National Police has taken up the investigation of this case.

It has been reported that since 2022, counterfeit 20, 50 and 100 euro banknotes have appeared in ten European countries. In particular, there were most of them in France. Experts found traces on the banknotes indicating that they were produced in an underground workshop. It turned out that 27% of all the banknotes (euro) seized in Europe last year had such signs, which is about eight million euros.



It is not yet known exactly how many counterfeit euros are still in circulation. Employees of the European Central Bank confirm the "high quality" of security elements such as holograms.

The investigation led law enforcement to southern Italy, where the Neapolitan mafia gang "Camorra" thrives. Members of this criminal group sell counterfeit money through their own drug and designer clothing distribution channels.





French police managed to find the printing house in a bunker-like secure basement behind a garage. The entrance was hidden behind a cabinet and secret doors that opened at the press of a button and slid aside on rails.

Investigators seized 31 digital printers that printed the 1950s series, a large amount of raw material for the production of counterfeit banknotes, as well as finished "products" worth three million euros.



In order not to jeopardize further investigations, the search was only announced now.