OUR FAKE EURO NOTES THAT EVEN AUTHORITIES ADMIRE

In Giugliano in Campania, Italy, while discussions among Europe’s financial authorities revolve around stimulating economic growth through increased money printing by the European Central Bank, certain resourceful individuals in this semi-urban sprawl northwest of Naples have taken matters into their own hands, producing numerous counterfeit euros.

Southern Italy’s Campania region is renowned for its sunny climate, delightful mozzarella, and organized crime, but it harbors a distinct cottage industry responsible for over half of the 550,000 to 800,000 counterfeit euro notes detected and removed from circulation yearly by European central banks.

Italy showcases a unique artisanal expertise in the realm of printing, although unauthorized euro production has also been discovered in France, Spain, Eastern Europe, and South America. The most adept practitioners seem to congregate in and around Giugliano, where concrete-block apartments neighbor orchards and car dealerships, and young African prostitutes ply their trade on unkempt roads.

“In Italy, there’s an enduring and esteemed tradition: the skilled craft of producing counterfeit currency,” remarked Colonel Alessandro Gentili, leading the Italian Carabinieri’s Currency Anti-Counterfeiting Unit in Rome. “Giugliano remains the hub, housing the finest professionals.”

This skillful cohort is surprisingly substantial. During a police crackdown on counterfeiting operations around Giugliano and the Calabria region in January 2009, authorities conducted raids on 162 locations, resulting in 109 arrests and the confiscation of an extensive cache of illicit materials.

Despite this major raid, Colonel Gentili notes that counterfeiting persists, echoing a tradition passed down through generations, akin to the inheritance of winemaking, pottery, fabrics, and other esteemed arts for which Italy is renowned.

Recently, police in the southern Apulia region arrested two men on counterfeiting charges, revealing collaborations between organized crime factions in the city of Foggia and those from Campania, collectively producing a multitude of fake euros.

While Campania is under the sway of the Camorra, a notoriously violent organized crime syndicate, local authorities assert that counterfeiting serves as a secondary pursuit for these gangsters. Their primary focus remains on more lucrative ventures such as illegal waste disposal, drug trafficking, and illicit garment workshops.

“Organized crime certainly profits from this enterprise and can control its market usage due to vested economic interests in the region,” stated Raffaele Cantone, a Supreme Court justice, and former magistrate known for extensive investigations into the Camorra during his earlier career.

Colonel Gentili, while expressing admiration for the cunning counterfeiters he pursues, proudly declares that his unit, established in 1992, was the first anti-counterfeiting unit in Europe, owing to Italy’s proficiency in counterfeiting. He highlighted that prior to the euro, Italian printing presses, notably in the Naples area, specialized in forging lire, dollars, as well as French and Swiss francs.

“In Italy, there’s a long-standing and esteemed tradition: the craft of producing counterfeit currency with finesse.”

Adorning his office wall, he proudly exhibited a forged “A.M. lira,” a currency circulated post the Allied landing in Italy, printed in Leonforte, Sicily, back in 1946.

To an untrained observer, the counterfeit euros from groups active in this region appear reasonably convincing. Yet, there are subtle discrepancies: the absence of a watermark on the paper and the distinct reflection of their silver holograms, differing from genuine euros.

Authorities discovered the initial fake euros shortly after the currency’s introduction in January 2002, conducting major counterfeiting raids six months later. Since then, the euro has gained global prominence, and counterfeit euros have permeated the currents of international drug trafficking and migration.

In recent times, fake euros have surfaced in Bulgaria, Colombia, Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq—countries with substantial cash economies. Spending fake euros is often easier in these nations since bank and shop personnel aren’t as well-versed with authentic euros. Colonel Gentili mentioned instances where immigrants from Africa and Latin America knowingly purchased fake euros in Europe to use them back home for property transactions.

The euro, particularly the 500-euro note valued at about $660, has become the preferred currency for drug dealers worldwide, with counterfeit euros integrated into their operations. Just last month, authorities in Bogotá, Colombia, dismantled a counterfeit press and seized half a million counterfeit euro notes.

While the European Central Bank identifies most counterfeit euro bills removed from circulation annually as 20s and 50s, compared to the vast number of genuine euro banknotes in circulation, this influx remains sufficient to keep authorities vigilant, despite its relatively small proportion.

Allister McCallum, heading the bank’s Anti-Counterfeiting Section, categorizes counterfeiters into three groups: amateurs relying on ink-jet printers, rogue states, and skilled professionals, akin to those operating in the vicinity of Giugliano.

At first glance, Giugliano doesn’t appear a counterfeiting hub. Its main street hosts nondescript buildings, mid-range clothing shops, a modern city hall, a church, and an apparent surplus of funeral homes. Yet, its outskirts stretching westwards to the coast hint at chaotic zoning and semi-abandoned structures suggesting clandestine activities.

In a 2009 incident near Giugliano, when counterfeiters anticipated a raid, they attempted to dispose of their stock by tossing fake 100-euro bills into a nearby stream.

Centuries ago, counterfeiting coins bearing monarchs’ images was a grave crime, punishable by death. Today, the European Commission aims to establish a “minimum maximum” sentence for euro fabrication, given the varied punishments across the 27 European Union countries.

Italy imposes relatively lengthy sentences of 3 to 12 years, but consistent application remains challenging. The sluggish wheels of Italian justice and judges frequently reducing counterfeiters’ sentences upon appeal contribute to high rates of repeat offenses. Individuals arrested in the 2009 crackdown have already been released, albeit under police surveillance.

Authorities highlight a particularly troublesome case involving a man from the Campania region. Arrested in 2007 for printing counterfeit euros, he spent a month in jail before being placed under house arrest pending trial, an ongoing process. In 2009, he faced similar charges, cycling through the same detention pattern, and yet again this year, he was arrested anew for counterfeiting.

“We often find ourselves tailing the same individuals,” Colonel Gentili remarked with a knowing and slightly resigned smile. “They evade, they forge ahead, and we pursue—it’s akin to a game of cat and mouse.”