Mint shop for counterfeit euro coins dismantled in Italy

On 1 December 2023, Europol supported the Italian Carabinieri Corps (Arma dei Carabinieri) in dismantling an organised crime group involved in the production and distribution of counterfeit euro coins. The European Commission’s European Technical and Scientific Centre also supported this investigation, which was coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Taranto. 
 

The action day led to:

• 12 location searches in Italy (Taranto, Roma, Matera and Perugia)
• 4 persons arrested
• 1 illegal mint shop dismantled 
• The following seizures: 107 000 in bitcoins, counterfeit coins and part of the coin press machine used for production.

The investigation was initiated on 10 April 2021, when officers of the Carabinieri seized 668 counterfeit two euro coins and arrested two individuals for possession of counterfeit currency. The technical analyses of the seized coins, carried out by the Italian Coin National Analysis Centre (CNAC) and the European Technical and Scientific Centre (ETSC) of European Commission, linked the seized coins to a new and insidious class of counterfeit two euro coins. 

The counterfeiters distributed the fake coins in several EU countries, mainly France, Germany, Lithuania, Portugal and Spain, as well as in Switzerland. The quality of the counterfeit coins was good and had very similar characteristics to the genuine ones. 

The investigation revealed that a vendor who managed a channel on a messaging application had set up the production chain. On his channel, the vendor sold these counterfeit currencies for 50% of their value, receiving the payments in cryptocurrency. Members of the criminal network shipped the parcels containing the fake coins to customers via private international postal services. 

The investigators managed to identify the suspects through special investigative techniques such as cryptanalysis of the blockchain transactions that enabled the illegal trade. During the investigation, officers tracked 60 shipments of parcels containing counterfeit coins. These parcels were destined for Italy, France and Switzerland, among other countries. They weighed almost 100 000 kg and had a total value of about EUR 102 000 euros in counterfeit two euro coins. 

Europol facilitated the information exchange and financed and coordinated several operational activities. Europol also provided analytical support to identify the country in which the coins were distributed. During the action day, Europol sent an expert to Italy to provide technical support and cross-check the operational information against Europol’s databases and the systems of the European Central Bank.