CROATIA TO EUROZONE HAS RESULTED IN A SIGNIFICANT SURGE IN THE CIRCULATION OF COUNTERFEIT EUROS

Since Croatia adopted the European single currency at the beginning of 2023, the Croatian National Bank (HNB) has confirmed a significant surge in counterfeit euro banknotes within the country.

A total of 293 counterfeit euro banknotes have been uncovered in less than two months following the currency transition.

The most prevalent among the counterfeit denominations were 50 euro bills, comprising nearly 200 pieces. This discovery surpasses the total count of fake notes seized in the preceding years, with 260 in the entire previous year and 228 the year before that.

This spike has caught the attention of restaurateurs, who have become notably vigilant while accepting euro banknotes, particularly those of higher denominations.

Recently, a 60-year-old individual was apprehended at the Bosnia and Herzegovina-Croatia border with 800 counterfeit ten-euro banknotes, in an attempt to smuggle them into Croatia.

The individual arrived at the Svilaja border crossing in a German-registered vehicle and was discovered during a thorough inspection conducted by police and customs officials.

“The perpetrator used one or two ten-euro bills previously to pay for a service, but we have never encountered a case of this magnitude before,” conveyed the Brod-Posavina Police Department to BIRN following the joint inspection.

The driver, a Serbian citizen traveling in the German-registered vehicle, was detained for a month and subsequently transferred to Pozega prison on February 20.

When law enforcement comes across suspicious banknotes, these are subjected to technical analysis by the National Bank.

Upon confirming counterfeit status, the notes are stored in the Directorate of National Centres for Combating Counterfeiting. The counterfeit currency remains as evidence and is only destroyed under court authorization, as noted by the HNB.

Under Croatian law, individuals arrested for involvement with counterfeit banknotes can face imprisonment of up to ten years.

Meanwhile, those unwittingly receiving counterfeit money but knowingly passing it on risk a prison term of three years.