NEWS OF the UK's largest cash counterfeiting scam to date has, according to the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA), "focused fresh attention" on the vital importance of stepping up investment in effective security devices designed to protect the nation's banknotes.

John Evans, Phillip Brown and Nick Winter have been jailed for their part in an organised crime group conspiracy to supply more than £12 million worth of counterfeit banknotes. The trio's imprisonment follows a lengthy and complex investigation conducted by specialist detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate and which included what's believed to have been the single largest face-value seizure of fake currency in UK history in the wake of a police raid at an industrial unit located in Beckenham.

Support for the investigation was provided by the Bank of England and the Counterfeit Currency Unit at the National Crime Agency.

The police investigation into the criminal group's activities began in January 2019 after the Bank of England had identified a new counterfeit £20 note that appeared to have been produced using the type of specialist printing equipment that would normally be associated with a company that produces large volumes of magazines or leaflets.

Following several months of enquiries, including mobile phone analysis of those believed to have been involved in its production, a search warrant was carried out at a business premises owned by Winter in Kent House Lane, Beckenham on Saturday 4 May 2019. Once inside the premises, officers found Brown and another man surrounded by printing equipment and large piles of counterfeit £20 notes, which were later confirmed as having a total face value of £5.25 million - believed to be the single largest face-value seizure of counterfeit currency in history. Upon his arrest, Brown told the officers: "You have caught me red-handed."

A subsequent search of Brown's home address led to the discovery of a list of names with numbers next to them that added up to 5.25 million - the same value of the counterfeit notes. Winter had been on holiday in America at the time his business was raided, but was arrested upon his return to the UK on Sunday 26 May 2019.

On Wednesday 9 October 2019, a dog walker found around £5 million worth of fake banknotes dumped in Halt Robin Road in Belvedere. A further £200,940 was found scattered along the railway line between Farningham and Longfield on Wednesday 15 January last year, with the Bank of England having already identified and removed around £1.6 million worth from general circulation.

To read the complete article, see:
UK banknote protection thrown into sharp focus by large-scale counterfeiting scam (https://www.fsmatters.com/UK-banknote-protection-methods-in-sharp-focus)