Counterfeiting Masterminds You Might Care To Know!
Money | October 26, 2009 at 1:57 amA crime is a crime no matter what the intention! Whenever I come across a beautifully masterminded scam, I feel sorry for the brains responsible for that because had they utilized their intelligence, skills and expertise with altruistic intentions, they would have done a lot of good to society and for themselves too. Here are the best counterfeiting examples of all times that you can have a look at to understand the finesse with which they have been done.
Fake Check Game
Frank William Abnagale Jr., the king of fake check counterfeits, managed to pass $2.5 million via fake checks over a period of 5 years in about 26 countries. Difficult it was to catch him,(that’s why the movie Catch Me If You Can was made inspired by him) , but eventually his game was cracked when an Air France employee identified him from ‘most wanted’ posters.
Fake Currency Game
The biggest counterfeit currency racquet of Britain of all times happens to be that of Anastasios Arnouti, who produced fake currency worth billions of pounds. ‘Taz’, as he is better known, printed the notes with a highly sophisticated printer, templates and other equipment. He’d sell 10 pound notes for 80 pence and 6 pounds for $100. His game was cracked in 2002 when he was imprisoned.
False Authorization of Printing Currency Notes
You might have heard about people printing false currency in their own workshops, but Alves dos Reis was a step ahead of them. He had falsely authorized Waterlow & Sons Ltd., a currency printing company, to print false currency to the denomination of 500 Portuguese Escudos under the name of Banco de Portugal. His forged contract under the guise of an Anglo economic welfare project was busted later.
Largest Amount Of Fake Currency In Circulation
Stephen Jory was responsible for circulating about 2/3 rds of fake currency in Great Britain between 1993-1998. During that period, he managed to circulate £50m in the market till the time he was caught.
Confederate Counterfeit
You might know him as the ‘King of Confederate Counterfeit’. He is Samuel C. Upham, who would mint fake currency 
and sell it to private buyers. He sold more than 80,000 fake notes in 1885, worth anywhere between $ 10,000 to $ 50,000 even though the government had imposed a death penalty on counterfeiting.
Government Counterfeit
It’s rather shocking and enraging to know that even governments can engage in counterfeiting! I can understand that individuals may have criminal mentalities. But it seems that one particular Asian government has actually printed the currency notes of India in the year 2009 to fund terrorist activities. It also seems fake American, Australian and Singaporean currency were also printed by the country.
I never really understood criminal mentality. Criminals, however intelligently they mastermind their crimes, eventually get caught. Catherine Murphy, England’s woman counterfeiter was burned on execution for her crime. Since then, burning on execution has been banned officially.
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